The right person
by Kufikiria
Summary: A collection of one-shots and drabbles about Peraltiago and linked to the ongoing season, their future together, alternate universes, some fluff or angst, etc. (Last one published: "Hanging by a Moment Here with You") (Previously titled "Johnny and Dora.")
1. 2 Be 3

**Post-4x22. In which Amy learns she is pregnant while Jake is still in jail.**

 **I've recently binge-watched and got obsessed with _Brooklyn Nine-Nine_ , and Peraltiago, so of course some fanfics ideas came into my mind after that.**

 **This is my first attempt at writing something for this show, and this couple, I'm still "taming" the characters and I'm not used to write for comic shows, I'm more about drama/angst so… maybe these versions of the characters, and the tone of the whole thing, is "darker" than what we know.**

 **Hope it won't be too OOC though, and that you'll like it anyway :)**

 **Also, English isn't my mother tongue so I apologise for the possible mistakes I made!**

* * *

Of course she had already thought of it.

More than ever during the few weeks before the tragic events, even. Because of Charles, because of undercover work as a pregnant woman, because of Terry's adorable twin daughters and how Jake had been even more adorable than those girls when interacting with and talking about them.

Because she loved him that much, she could actually picture a whole future with him – marriage, children, growing old together.

 _Everything._

Never had she thought of it happening like _that_ , though. Obviously.

Because who would ever imagine discovering their pregnancy alone in their bathroom, with their boyfriend stuck in jail for the past weeks, and risking to stay in there a good amount of time still – up to fifteen _years_ , to be completely precise? No one would ever think of that.

That's why she chose not to tell anyone, at first.

She chose not to tell _him_.

She just didn't want him to worry more than he already was because of the pressure of this whole terrible situation. She just didn't want him to worry that he wouldn't be there for her during the time she was carrying their baby.

More importantly, that he might not be there for _him_. For his birth. His first steps. First words.

 _Everything_ , from his childhood to his teenage years.

He knew what it was, having to grow up without a parent – how hard, and depressing, it can be. So of course she didn't have to try and see that he would be utterly devastated to learn that his own flesh and blood would have to go through the same trauma he went when he was young.

But he wouldn't be the only one Jake would worry about.

Indeed, he also knew how difficult it had been for his mother to raise him all by herself. And even if Amy wouldn't exactly be alone – the Nine-Nine would have her back, as it always had – he just wouldn't want her to have to face it all without him by her side.

So, from the moment she got the confirmation she was pregnant, she decided to keep it a secret.

She almost told Gina once, though, because it appeared harder than she thought not to be able to talk about it with anyone. To _hide_ it from everyone. And since she was with child too, she naturally thought they could understand each other on the matter, but she knew the woman too well to know it was a risk she wasn't willing to take.

She would repeat the words to everyone in a second.

And of course she would tell _Jake_ first.

The man from which it was the hardest to keep it from herself every time she had the chance to meet him in the visiting room of the prison. But she kept telling herself it was for the better.

She could easily tell her detective wasn't alright, that his time there was consuming him way more than what he would ever admit it each new day he would spend in his cell.

 _Each new day_ that the squad had spent trying to find a way to prove their colleagues' innocence, without much of a success for now, unfortunately. But they weren't going to stop.

They would _never_ stop, until they got them back at the Nine-Nine.

So during those rare and too-short moments she had the right to share with him, she just tried to make him smile, make him forget where he actually was, try to make him keep the hope that this nightmare would end very soon, and not forget that she _loved him so much_.

(Try to make _her_ keep her hopes up, as well.)

Until the day she couldn't lie anymore.

She had already broke the secret twice, to be honest, before breaking it up to him.

With Captain Holt, first, when he had confronted her about her weird behaviour and she just couldn't not tell him the truth, and with Rosa, then, when they talked about Jake. It reassured her a little, to know that someone who was by his side knew he was going to be a father when _he_ didn't.

It was the third time she felt like throwing up in front of him – her physical state becoming harder and harder to hide with every new visit and month passing – that he finally made a comment about it.

"Am I that sickening to see, now? I thought you'd like the beard, given how often you asked me to grow one and I couldn't. And I promise, we actually have showers here, I don't think I smell too bad either," he tried to make it sound like a joke, but Amy knew better than that; he truly found himself disgusting, right now.

And he was worried about her.

Her heart crushed a little at the sound of his broken voice. He really looked even worse than all the times she had met with him before. So she had no other choice than spilling the truth, now.

He deserved it. And she knew she couldn't feign anything anymore anyway.

She knew that day would have had to come.

Because there would have been a moment she wouldn't have been able to hide her growing belly anymore. She just wished they could have found a way to free their colleagues before then.

She just wished all of it didn't happen with such a bad timing in their lives… She just wished everything had gone according to her plans.

So she took a deep breath, gathering all the strengh she had, and said, "I'm sorry, it's just… Jake, I have something I need to tell you. Something important. And I… don't know how you gonna react."

"You're pregnant?!" he asked in return, and this sounded so much more like a statement than a question that it took her a few seconds before acquiescing his guessing.

"How do you know?" was all she managed to ask.

"I'm not as dumb as I can appear sometimes," he answered simply, failing at the amused card again. "I could recognise the symptoms. Plus Rosa told me everything."

At that point, Amy was going to protest, but he cut her before she even got the chance to say a word – he already knew what she would complain about.

"Don't be mad at her. She only told me so that I wouldn't make a mistake and break-up with you."

"You… _WHAT?!_ " it took a bit for her to fully understand the meaning of what he was confessing.

This conversation was taking a very different turn than what she'd imagined – and she had imagined a whole bunch of different scenarii, from the day she learnt about her pregnancy to this one. A lot were quite depressing, but not as depressing as this one.

Why would he break-up with her, what did she do wrong?! She felt the tears coming to her eyes, but didn't allow them to fall down. He saw them though, and a sad expression suddenly appeared on his tired face. It was his turn to take a deep breath before starting to speak.

"Because… because I love you so much too, I thought I had to let you go," he let out first, then went on with further explanation. "It's already been four months, Ames, and you guys have found NOTHING to help us! I believe in you all, I truly do, and I know you're doing everything that's in your power to save us but what if… what if you never succeed, and we _do_ have to stay here for fifteen years? I just couldn't let you wait for me, and give up on your life plans for me. Fifteen years is a long, long time. And I know from the calendar above our bed that by this time you would have wanted to be married and have three children, two girls and a boy. I may won't be able to give that to you. Well, at least I _thought_ I wouldn't be able to give any of that to you."

"Screw my calendar," she only answered after awhile spent in complete silence, salty pearls finally going down her cheeks now. "And screw those stupid plans. Because they're just that: plans. And if there's one thing I learned by being with you, is that sometimes the best things that can happen to you are the unpredictible ones. _You're_ one of the best things that have happened to me, Jake. And I would have _never_ guessed I would love you the way I do before I took the chance. So I don't care how long it will take us to take you out of here. I _will_ wait for you, and _nothing_ you can do – even trying to break my heart and make me hate you, or I don't know what was the idea behind wanting to break-up with me – will change my mind about it."

"It's not just that," he added, though. "I'm also scared. Scared of what can happen to you, if they find you're trying to take them down. We saw what those people are capable of. I don't want to put you in danger. I'd hate that something would happen to you because of me. Even more now that…"

He couldn't finish his sentence, but by the way his eyes wandered over her stomach, she didn't need him to to understand what he meant.

 _Now that there's two of you._

Amy softened a little then, and took Jake's hand in hers, making him look at her again.

"We WILL be fine," she assured him, trying to make it sound as convincing as possible. "The whole Nine-Nine is one the case, I'm not alone. And we're really careful, don't worry. Plus, you're not the only one I'm – _we're_ – fighting for – we're here for Rosa too."

He managed a smile at that, because this woman was so incredibly strong, and he loved her so much. Sometimes he wondered what he'd done to deserve her. But he'd never complain about the fact that for some reason, she seemed to love him as much as he did, her.

And now she was carrying their child… and he couldn't even be happy about it.

Well, of course he was, deep inside. He had dreamed of it as well. He just wished the whole thing would have happened differently.

"Do they know?" he changed subjects, refocusing it on the big news of the day.

"Only Holt knows. But I will tell the others as soon as I get out of here, now that you know too."

She paused, then added, leaving his gaze, unable to bear keeping eye-contact with him. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, by the way, and that you weren't the first one to know about it. But you know I can't lie to Holt, and I needed Rosa to be aware of it as well. And, well… I didn't want you to feel bad about having to live it from here and not together, and it appears I was right given what you've just told me. I also truly thought you would be out by the time it would have became obvious and I wouldn't be able to hide it anymore. I'm sorry," she said again. "I really didn't want to keep you out of this."

" _I_ am sorry," he told her in return, startling her. "For thinking about breaking up with you, even if it was for a good reason. And most of all… for not being there for you, right now. _Both_ of you. But even if I can't really show it right now, I'm really happy about it. About us becoming parents. Never _ever_ doubt of that."

"You'll be soon enough," she tried to reassure him. Then she added, feeling the sudden urge to tell him how she felt about him, for him to know nothing had changed on her side and would probably never change at all, "I love you… more than anything."

That made him smile. A true, geniune smile – the first real one in awhile.

"I love you more than anything too. You…" he hesitated, before saying, knowing that she'd have to go and leave him alone again soon, "you'll be alright, huh?"

"We _all_ will be," she answered, smiling too.

She quickly kissed him before reluctantly getting out of the room to reach the outside world, and he was taken back in his cell, her words never leaving his mind.

It turned out she was right, after all, and that they were all fine in the end.

They indeed found evidence of Jake and Rosa's innocence after weeks of sleepless nights and restless days. But it was way more than worth it, especially for Amy, when a few months after their release, she saw the complete bliss in her partner's blurry from his happy tears eyes when she gave birth to a beautiful little girl, and he was actually able to hold her in his arms, never letting her _(letting them)_ go again, promising to always be there for her, until the end of times.

(He actually let her go for some well-deserved vacations in Paris with his girlfriend after some time, who soon became his _fiancée_ after he proposed to her at the top of the Eiffel Tower and she said "yes".)


	2. I Can't Sleep Tight

**Inspired by the tiny peace of interview (if we can even call it that way) we got from Melissa Fumero at the TCA party the other night.**

 ** _Guest_** **, if you come back here, thank you for your review on my previous OS, that's very much appreciated! :)**

* * *

 **I Can't Sleep Tight (When I'm Not in Your Arms)**

It's been three nights since the night of the trial, and Amy is alone at her desk as she's already been the past three nights when Holt finally leaves his office way past the end hour of their shift.

He notices her there, and just like he did the past three nights, he tells her, "Go home, Santiago."

She barely looks at him as he goes on, too focused on something she's reading on her computer, "you need some rest. All of the others have left. We'll get back to work tomorrow."

It's been three nights since the night of the trial, which means three nights Jake and Rosa have spent in jail after being found guilty of some crime they didn't commit. From then, their colleagues didn't stop their efforts to try and find some evidence of their innocence – except at night, of course, when they allowed themselves to take a break.

Most of them, anyway. Because Amy never took a break.

 _Couldn't_ take a break.

"Yeah," she vaguely answers then. "I just have one thing left to do, and I'm out. Promise."

Her Captain doesn't really believe her words – it's was she's told him the past three days, and he knows for a fact, despite what she told him, that she never went home during those days – and so is tempted to stay until she leaves with him, to _make sure_ she actually leaves with him this time, but finally decides to just nod and heads towards the elevator.

"Goodnight, Santiago," is all he says.

"Goodnight, Captain," she replies, and with no further details she's back to work.

He learns he should have followed his instincts and stay the following morning, when he's the first to walk into the precinct and finds her fully-asleep at the same place he left her the night before – at her desk, in front of her still-turned on computer and with a cup of coffee in her hand.

Apparently it didn't help a lot.

He gently approaches her not to scare her awake, and has to call her name several times and temptatively shake her shoulder before she reacts and finally opens her eyes.

"Captain!" she shouts a little too loudly, startled, while raising her head from where it was leaning before, her hair falling in front of her face. It's a good thing it's only the two of them there now.

For a few seconds she stares blankly around her, trying to recall where she is, and what time it can be. Holt uses that moment to really stare at her and all he can see is the huge bags under her seemingly tired orbs. It's clear she didn't have much rest during the past three nights.

Maybe it's even the first time she actually manages to sleep.

"I thought I told you to go home, yesterday," he simply states when she appears to be back to reality, and she can't really tell from his facial expression and his tone of voice if he's mad at her for not having done what he asked, or genuinely concerned about her well-being…

… or if he's just enunciating a fact.

She goes for a mix of the first two options. "I know, I just…" she starts her explanation. "I thought I found some lead in our case, and you know me," she giggles nervously this time, "I couldn't stop until I got some answers. I suppose I fell asleep in the process."

"Was it at least helpful, what you found?" he asks with the same still voice as previously.

"I'm afraid not. Appeared it was a dead end," she admits, defeated.

A few seconds passes before the Captain speaks again, as if he was thinking about something. "So you don't have anything to do here anymore, right? You can finally do as I asked you to – go home and have some _real_ rest now?"

"No!" she answers a little too quickly again, and immediately feels bad for talking to her boss like this for the second time in the space of only a few seconds. "I mean," she recompose herself then, "I'm afraid I can't do that, Sir. I don't have time to go back home before the start of our shift, and we have so much to do, maybe it's better if I just stay here and start working on, you know, our let's-take-Jake-and-Rosa-out-of-jail mission before new cases come, no?"

She's so positive he'll agree with her she actually startles when he answers, "no. You're not staying here any longer. Take your day off. I don't want to see you near this precinct in the next 24 hours."

"Sir…" she wants to argue, but he cuts her off.

"This is an order. Go. _Home_ ," he insists on the last word.

At that she remains silent, but he can see her struggle with herself about whether to add something or not, and sees how she's way less confident than she usually show herself to be.

She decides to spill it out, finally. "I can't… I can't go home," she shyly confesses, breaking a little inside, with her gaze stuck on her desk. She's incapable of looking Holt in the eye right now.

"Why is that?" the man asks, somehow surprised, as he can't make out a reason to that statement.

His detective manages to look at him, then. She can't believe she's about to share what she feels deep inside with her boss, but it appears she does. She needs to talk to somebody.

And Jake isn't here to listen to her, and she doesn't know when she'll be able to see him again to speak to him about it all, so…

She takes a deap breath to give herself some sort of courage, and goes on with her explanation. "Because, you know… Jake and I may have been separated before – a lot, even – it was never like it is right now. We weren't living together at the time, so I was kind of used to go home and be alone there. I'm not anymore, and it appears I… I really got used to having him around all the time. So now every time I go back to our apartment, I get stressed out by how quiet it is without him, and I can't go to sleep because our bed is so big for only one person now. I know it's silly because it's only been three days and if I'm already freaking out, how am I supposed to get through to up to fifteen years without him but I… I don't know how he's doing on his own and I miss him, and…"

She stops there, because she can't say anything anymore. She's in tears, she notices. It's the first time she's allowed herself to break down since the trial, too focused on working on a way to get her boyfriend and Rosa out to actually think about what she was feeling. But it appears being sleep-deprived wasn't helping to keep it together right now.

She hates it though, to look that vulnerable in front of her mentor.

"Oh, I see," is all he replies however after a long pause, not really knowing how to react. "Well, maybe this will help you: I finally got you permission to see him by the end of the week."

In a matter of fact, it _does_ help her. She needs no more than just that to make her stop crying, and actually look at him with relief in her eyes for once. "You did?!" she asks, only to make sure she heard it right.

"I did. So go to sleep and only come back when you've had enough rest. You don't want Peralta to see you like this, and freak out about you freaking out about him, do you?"

Amy knows the Captain's right. Of course she doesn't want that to happen. So she takes her stuff, and goes home. It takes her some time to finally fall into slumber but she eventually does, with Holt's words in her mind, and Jake's hoodie covering her chest.

It's nothing like his arms wrapped around her though, but she'll have to make do with it for now.

At least it still smells like him, so with her eyes firmly closed, she can imagine he's right there, lulling her like he does when she's too stressed out by some silly things to sleep.

(Until he's actually right there, _really_ lulling her to sleep on their first night back together, and she has the best sleep she's ever had in the past three months she's spent without him by her side.)

* * *

 **Seriously I have absolutely no idea how being able to visit someone in jail happens so I'm really sorry if this is something that couldn't happen in real life, to be able to see someone after only one week spent there. But well, it's fiction after all, so let's just say anything can happen there x)**


	3. Pretending

**OMG this is like** **… the longest thing I've ever written in English in my whole life haha.  
**

 **I rewrote and re-read this but it's so long (well, for me anyway) I'm sure I left some mistakes unfixed. And maybe that's not as "smooth" as it could be, but I'm still figuring out my writing style when it comes to do so in English so the longer it gets, the harder it becomes for me.  
**

 **Anyway, here's my first attempt at a Peraltiago AU! I love AUs, so it only makes sense I came to write one for them. It's a College Roommates/Fake Dating AU. And contrary to the first two OS that were quite angsty, this one is all fluff, yaay. (Next one is pure drama, though, if I decide to post it xD)**

* * *

"Amy, sweetheart, come here! I've missed you so much, darling!"

Amy barely has time to open the door of her apartment to her mother, who's come to visit her in New-York for the weekend, that the latter is already taking her in her arms, genuinely happy to finally see her daughter again. It's literally been months since the last time they saw each other – Amy didn't go back home that often, and the same happened to her parents and her new city, even more so now that she's sharing her place with one of her closest friends for money-saving purposes.

"I've missed you too, Mom," she replies with a true smile appearing upon her face while she tightens their embrace. "How was your flight? Aren't you too tired, do you need anything?" she then asks when they finally part, and takes her luggage in her own hands to help her come inside.

"It was fine, I guess. And _I_ am. I'll have plenty of time to rest later. All I need now, is to know that my only daughter's alright here too?"

"I am, yeah," Amy answers, her grin never leaving her features – she's just come to realise how much she's missed her mother, and how glad she is that she's here right now. "I mean, school is as interesting as it's always been, my work at the university's library is the best and well, I think Jake and I have finally found a way to make the best of our living together after some time adjusting to this new life as roommates," she enunciates. "So everything's _great_ , really."

"No boyfriend, then?" her mother asks in all innocence, but Amy knows better than that. She knows her mother too well. So she knows what's coming, what plans the woman has for her.

And she's already pissed of what's ovbiously coming. That's why her only reply is a desperate "MOM!" she exclaims in a shocked tone. It's only been five minutes since her arrival…

She should have guessed, though. Because Elena Santiago's always been like this: questioning her child about her love life, and trying to set her up with some random guy she knows from being the son of her own friends. "The perfect match," according to her own words – every time.

No need to point out Amy hates it when she does that, but she does it anyway.

"What?" she doesn't seem taken aback by the young woman's reaction. "I'm only asking because I met Shannon's son the other night, and he's a real sweetheart. You should meet him as well – I'm sure you too would get along." She tries to be sutble, but completely fails at it.

Amy doesn't answer right away, in search of a way to make her mother understand she has to stop doing this, even though she knows it's a lost cause. She already tried several times to tell her, but she always denied the fact that she was talking to her about those men for that reason.

So she _knows_ she'll hear about him for the whole weekend. Elena's already rambling about how the meeting has been, and all the nice things he did during that time, and so on.

Hopefully the sudden noise of a closing door, and Jake appearing in the room, calling her, shushes her mother and saves her from the nightmare she's living. "Ames, I'm… oh, hello ma'am!" he cuts himself off in the middle of what he was going to say when he sees his roommate isn't alone, but with someone he's never seen before – his mother, he assumes though, from the pictures in her room and because she simply asked awhile ago if he was okay with her spending a weekend here.

That's how the thought comes into her mind, after one second of eye-contact with him. "Jake, meet my mother, Elena," she first introduces her, before going on, turning to the older woman. "And I didn't want to tell you just now, but since we were talking about it… Mom, this is Jake, my roommate… and _boyfriend_."

The "what?!" that follows comes from both concerned parties, which finally makes Amy realise this wasn't just a thought that came to her mind, but something she actually _said_ – and she immediately regrets it. She can't take it back anymore though, would be too weird to explain, and it's actually quite working in making her mother stop talking about this other guy, so… she just gives her roommate a pleading look not to blow this up and play along with her.

She's really sorry she's involving him in the matter without consulting him before, but she has no other choice than doing so right now. She'll thank him with all she has later, she promises herself.

He seems to understand what she wants from him with this look, because he quickly corrects himself after regaining some composure. "Hum, what I meant is, 'what, you're already there?!'. I didn't know you were arriving that early. Anyways, I'm sorry, it's nice to finally meet you." He gives her his hand for her to shake. "Amy really told me a lot about you!"

Maybe he's a little bit too enthusiastic to sound true, but Elena doesn't seem to notice. She justs takes his hand, and answers, her glaring gaze on her daughter while she speaks, "I'm afraid I can't tell the same of you. I hope this weekend will make up for it."

"I truly hope so too, but right now I need to go help a friend," Jake excuses himself, before adding, "see you later?"

"I'm looking forward to it," the mother genuinely answers with a smile this time, and he gives her one back. After that he starts to leave, then pauses for a few seconds.

He's hesitant, you can see it in his eyes, but he takes a step back into the apartment, and closer to Amy. He quickly looks at her before finally making a move; he kisses her goodbye at the corner of her mouth, gently telling her, "bye, babe!" Then with that, he leaves for good.

She's happy he's gone before he has time to notice the blush that starts from the tip of her ears down her cheeks at this simple and brief contact of his lips on her. How is she supposed to come through the whole weekend like this? This was such a bad idea.

"Your Jake really seems like a charming man," Elena takes her back to the reality of the moment. "Why wouldn't you talk to me about him before? How long have you been dating anyway?"

This lie is going to put her in so much trouble, she realises while thinking about what she's going to tell her mother to answer all the questions she must have right now…

* * *

"Jake? Are you listening to me? You've acted weird since you arrived. Why are you being weird?!"

It's been at least thirty minutes, if not more, since the student left his apartment to join his best friend as they'd agree to do so earlier, but it seems like he just can't concentrate on what Charles is telling him, still in shock from what happened before he left. That is, Amy introducing him as _her boyfriend_ in front of her mother, and him… kind of kissing her goodbye.

Why did he do that?! Okay, it was not to blow her cover and make it seem like they were an actual couple simply acting like one but still – he could have come up with something else, something less… _like this_. And more importantly, why did _she_ do that in the first place?!

"I kissed Amy," he blurs it out finally, because he's always told Charles anything anyway.

His reaction is yet to come. "WHAT?!" he shouts in pure enthusiasm. "What?" he repeats, processing what he's just learnt. "Tell me EVERYTHING!"

"Calm down, Charles," his friend immediately tries not to keep his hopes up – he knows how dearly the other student wishes them to get together, being one of the few who knows Jake's true feelings about his roommate. "It wasn't really a kiss," he corrects, "just a peck at the corner of her mouth, nothing more, to make her mom believe she's actually my girlfriend. For some reason it's what she told her she was when she introduced us to each other."

Charles wants to argue with something to that, but doesn't have the chance, since just when he's finished with his explanation, Jake's phone starts buzzing. He takes it off his pocket then, and he can't help a small smile from appearing on his face when he sees who the sender is. "Speaking of," he shows it to his friend, then begins with reading her text out loud, so that the other student can hear what she has to tell him. _"I'm sorry about earlier. I wasn't thinking. I just wanted her to stop talking to me about this guy she clearly wanted me to go on a date with, and you appeared at the same time, so… you looked like the best option at that time. I'm so sorry I dragged you into this."_

"She's _so_ in love with you too," Charles can't prevent himself from commenting.

"I'm not 'in love', Charles," Jake corrects him, rolling his eyes. "I just like her, that's all. And why would you think she is anyway? It's a pretty good excuse she gave here."

"Yeah," he insists. "A good excuse to be able to spend the weekend acting like you're together when she's too afraid to tell you what she truly feels."

This statement actually makes the brunette think twice. It's true she could have just told her mother to stop bothering her with this other guy without bringing this fake relationship up. It would have been easier than lying, especially for someone like _her_ who really don't like to do so – even more so when it comes to her close relatives. But she must have had a good reason for it.

Amy Santiago _always_ had one, and there's no way it's because she just wanted to experiment what "being-in-an-actual-relationship-with-Jake" looked like.

"Whatever," he simple mumbles then, not wanting to talk about it more, and just takes his phone back to type his answer.

 _No probs. I understand._

He sends another one right after, unable to keep it for himself.

 _(Btw "you looked like the best solution at that time" – title of your sex-tape ;))_

It's a running-joke he's had on her for a long time now, but that he never gets tired of – probably never will be.

Her own answer comes right after. _Ha-ha, so funny. But seriously, thank you, Jake. I owe you one. And… even maybe more than one. Because my mom asks if you'll have dinner with us tonight. So what should I tell her? You don't have to do it if you already have plans, or if you just don't want to. I'd understand. But if you do, I'll order us some pizzas from your favourite place…_

She knows him so well, and knows how to talk to him – what to tell him to make him accept her request. Never in any world would he say no to pizza. But it's not only _his_ choice this time – he's supposed to have dinner with Charles already. The guy's just been dumped by his girlfriend, and he needs Jake by his side to get through the pain it makes him feel. That's what he's ready to write anyway, before his friend interfere in the conversation he's been reading the whole time.

"Oh. My. God. Tell me you're going to agree on doing this, please?" he seems pretty psyched about the whole thing.

"But Charles, we're supposed to eat together," the other student reminds him of their plans.

"Yeah, well, we can post-pone it. Do it tomorrow if you're not too busy with your _girlfriend_. It's not everyday you'll get that chance."

"But, what about you? Didn't you need someone to cheer you up?" Jake's still hesitant.

"I'll be fine, I promise," his friend tries to reassure him. "Actually, nothing could cheer me up more than you having a date with Amy and her mother."

"It's not a date," he protests, but Charles doesn't care, and only goes on.

"Maybe, but it'll turn into one soon, I'm sure. Don't blow that up, Jakey. Make her know how you feel. Now's your best chance."

Jake takes a look at him for a few seconds, trying to see if there's some part inside his friend that actually wants him to stay, but he's smiling so brightly at the idea, he finally decides to do as he's told, and answers to his roommate's text.

 _How dare you tempting me w/ pizza?!_

(Just to make everything look more dramatic, he adds three "shocked-face" emojis to his message before going on with the rest of it.)

 _Y'know I can't say no to pizza. Don't forget tho: for me it's meat supreme, display temperature. Be back by 7. See ya._

For a moment he stares at his screen, not sending it right away. He's hesitant to do so, but eventually adds a "kissing-heart" emoji to conclude his text. He's afraid she'll think he's crossing a line here, but he finds himself quite enjoying this "I'm-your-boyfriend-now" card, and wants to use it as much as he can during the small amount of time I'll be able to.

After all, if she didn't want him to act like this, she just shouldn't have involved him in the first place. Because she knew him too damn well not to except this – him making a full show of the situation.

Despite her probably being busy with whatever she's doing with her mother right now, it doesn't take long before he receives an answer. A simple _"thank you"_.

He doesn't really know what he was expecting, but he finds himself quite disappointed by such a cold reply. He knows she isn't one for showing a lot of emotions through texts though, and that he really shouldn't be reading into it. She's thankful for what he's doing, so she writes so.

Nothing less, nothing more.

He can't help but tease her about it anyway. _I hope your mother doesn't read your texts, you don't really seem into me in them. Have you at least changed my name from "Jake Peralta" to something less formal? Like maybe… "babe" or some other cute name? :p_

Once again, it only takes her a few seconds to send her response. _No. Some people actually know what respecting other people's privacy is, Jake. I know for a fact she would never do that._

 _Too bad,_ he goes on with his teasing – he likes it way too much. _Would have loved having an actual screenshot of you calling me 'babe' to show everyone how much you actually love me – because we both know you do. And to remind you of what you made me do in the future, also…_

Just to be sure she understands he's only joking, and because he loves them too much (blame it on Gina and the huge amount of time he's spent with her), he adds three "grinning" emojis before sending his text. He's startled for a minute and has to re-read her answer several times to be sure he's not dreaming when he sees it.

 _In your dreams… babe_ , followed by an "heart" emoji, which is the most disturbing thing… _ever_.

Amy never uses emojis. She finds them useless, thinks that you don't need them to make people understand your tone of voice if you know how to use your language properly.

That's how he knows she's only playing along with him. Still, he likes it very much, and can't stop his own heart from missing a beat at the sight of this one adressed to _him_. From _her_.

He doesn't wait to send her a bunch of "heart-eyes" emojis himself then, adding a dramatic (but somehow quite true) _OMG it's a dream coming true rn!_ to it.

Charles is by his side the whole time they're texting each other, reading all messages in a religious silence, smiling broadly at everything he sees on the screen. "You two are so adorable," he can't help but sigh with contentment once Jake has sent the last one, which makes him look up to his friend… and watch him as he wipes off an actual tear from his blurry eyes.

"Are you okay?" the younger of the two asks, suddenly taken back to the reality of the moment.

"Yeah," the other one answers, trying to sound as convincing as he can. "It's just… I wish I could find someone with whom I can have such a beautiful relationship as you guys have."

"Oh…" is all Jake manages to say, hate for himself coming to him while he realises what's really happening here, and how bad of a friend he can act sometimes. Charles has just broken up with his girlfriend, and needs him right now, and the only thing he does is flirting with his own crush?!

 _Unbelievable._

Quickly he puts his phone back in his pocket, not letting himself be interrupted by it anymore, then adds, giving the student his whole attention this time. "I'm so sorry, Charles. I promise I'm all yours now. And I'm sure you'll find someone else. Someone worthy of you. How couldn't you? You're the kindest guy I know. The best friend anyone could ask for."

"You really think so?" he's fast to find his smile again at this unexpected declaration of friendship.

"Of course I do."

* * *

It's only after some hours and a lot of discussions, sure that his friend is feeling okay again, that Jake leaves him to go back to his apartment, where Amy and her mother surely are waiting for him (it's already almost seven – he'll be late, as he often is, but he has a pretty good reason for it this time). Now that he's back to being alone he allows himself to look at his phone, and sees that she actually sent him another text soon after the last ones they shared.

 _Check your e-mails, please. I've just sent you a list of things we should agree on, to build a coherent enough story. I'm sorry it's a really rough version of it, I didn't have much time, I wrote it while my mom was in the shower and couldn't think of everything important to know. But if we're lucky enough, I think we can manage to actually make it. At least I hope so…_

Jake is already aware he'll find something very complete when he opens his e-mails as he's told to do so, because it's Amy Santiago we're talking about, and her vision of _rough_ is in fact far more complete than anyone else's, but he's clearly startled anyway when he sees the 5-pages long document appear in front of his eyes. How is he supposed to learn by heart everything that's written in the less-than-thirty-minutes' walk he has from where he stands to his apartment?

That's completely insane.

He doesn't give up though, and simple chooses to only read the most important sections, skipping all the useless ones – and there's a lot, he discovers soon enough, like the one describing with astounishing details their _third_ date (who the hell would ask them what they had for dinner that night?! And anyway, who would even remember it?!) – and concentrating on the important ones.

 _How long have they been dating (exactly two months and sixteen days), how did it happen?_

Just to be safe, he saves the document in his phone as well, so that when he unlocks the screen, he can immediately reach for it if he needs to check it for some more information he doesn't remember throughout the dinner. He's just finished to read the last important piece of it all when he arrives in front of his door so he doesn't wait and opens it, fully ready to play his part.

But, to much of his surprise, Amy's alone at the already layed table when he enters the room. She seems nervous, he can tell from the way she's typing it with her fingers without really realising what she's doing, lost in the tracks of her thoughts.

"Where's your mom?" he asks, curious, when she finally notices him and leaves a relieved sigh at his sight. She stands up and comes to him so that she can talk to him in whispers.

"In the toilets," she points towards it. "Thanks again for doing this for me, you're an actual angel."

"Glad you finally come to realising that, after all this time," he jokes in an attempt to make her feel less stressed, and it seems to work given the small smile that brightens her features. "But seriously, it's no problem."

She smiles again, but doesn't reply anything, so they just awkwardly stand there in silence, not really knowing how to act or what to say. That is, until Elena appears, and exclaims, breaking the quietness of the room, "oh, Jake, I'm so glad you were able to make it! Amy told me how busy you were, so I really appreciate you're finding some time to meet me, now that she finally spilled the truth about the both of you."

"Of course," he tells her with a smile. "I would have missed the chance of meeting this wonderful lady's mother for nothing," he adds, passing a hand around Amy's shoulders to pull her nearer to his side, grinning widely this time.

It's a new and weird but _good_ feeling, to actually have her that close to him.

"The pizzas are on their way," Amy informs them, trying to think about something else than Jake's hand around her and how it makes her heart beats faster at the touch. "Shall we… have a drink, before they arrive?" she suggests.

Both her mother and fake-boyfriend agree, so they all end up heading towards the table, the other student finally letting go of her to take his place face-to-face with her, while Elena sits by her side.

She's relieved and sad at the same time that he left her – a strange mix of feelings.

Their guest doesn't wait long before starting her interrogation, all the questions she had burning her tongue for having to wait the whole day before asking them (actually, she asked _a lot_ of them to her daughter when they were alone already, but wants to hear about Jake's version as well). That's how he finds himself spending the entire dinner talking about (and fondly remembering) how the two students met four years ago when they entered university, why they chose to live together at the beginning of this year (and why choose Amy's apartment and not his – because of a bet they made and he lost, or let her win, to be completely precise) up until the moment they started seeing each other as more than just friends and decided to turn it into a real relationship.

Thanks to his trick of checking his roommate's document from time to time, Jake actually finds a way to answer right to every question Elena asks him about them. At least it's the case until she asks _the_ one whose answer isn't in the document he's using as a back-up.

A very personal question, that leaves him completely taken aback when he hears it.

"So, tell me. I know how perfect my daughter is, but I'm curious. What made you fall for her?"

Both students almost chock on their part of pizza when hearing this, and share a look of surprise. A few seconds pass before the only male at the table finally speaks. "Oh, I would love to answer that," he says as if he means it, in search of what to tell her.

Well, actually he _knows_ what he could tell her, what he _would_ tell her if the situation was real. But it's not, and Amy doesn't know he's fallen for her already, so he has to come up with an answer that doesn't let it show too much. That's how he ends up miserably confessing, "she's… beautiful."

Elena doesn't seem pleased by this reply, because she looks like she's waiting for him to continue, when really he doesn't have anything else planned to say. Amy also awaits, and he swears he can see in her eyes when he looks at her that she's sad and disappointed when she realises that's all he has – that he can't come up with more, or something _better_ than just complimenting her looks.

That's why he finally chooses to simply tell the whole truth, and takes a deep breath to help him find some courage. He doesn't stop staring at her while he speaks.

Because Charles is right. Now's the perfect occasion to spill everything out of his chest, after all this time he spent trying to hide his feelings from her. He needs her to know, now.

Know that she _is_ more than just "beautiful", as he said she is.

"And, well, you know how it works, those things," he adds to his previous words then. "One day you think she's just your friend and the next you find yourself surprising her with making her breakfast for the first time because some jerk dumped her so you want to make her smile, because you truly _hate_ it when she's sad, and she's here telling you how _good_ and _nice_ it is what you did, and it's all that matters now because really, nothing matters most than _her_ opinion to you and you're so relieved she seems to find her smile again that it does this weird thing in your stomach and you finally understand what your friends already tried to make you realise before: that's more than just friendship and sharing a flat that you want with her. It's sharing her _life_ – you know, romantic-stylez."

If it wasn't for the last comment he made, Amy would have been sure he'd been telling what he truly felt inside of him – he was so serious while saying all the beautiful things he said, never leaving her gaze, making her remember about this day she herself came to realise how deep she had fallen for him already (which was, she never told him, the whole reason of her break-up with her ex-boyfriend and it not working out)… But then the always-joking-Jake came back, with this proud grin upon is face that said nothing more than " _nailed it!_ " and she knew he was just putting all his efforts not to blow their cover. She was disappointed with his first statement, and somehow ends up being even more disappointed by this new one. It's not his fault this time, though.

It's hers, for coming up with such a stupid idea in the first place.

There's complete silence between the three adults for a brief moment, each and every one of them overwhelmed by Jake's heartfelt speech, until Elena finally breaks it. "Well, I hope you won't be the next 'jerk' to dump her," is all she manages to say between the emotions she's feeling right now. She knows he won't though – she's never heard someone speak with that much love in his voice than Jake talking about how he fell for her daughter.

"I could hardly do that," he confirms her doubts, and there's nothing truer than this. Because how could he dump her when they're not even _really_ together?

(How could he dump her if they were? She's perfect.)

It takes some other minutes for the atmosphere to go back to normal, but when it does, nothing else significant happens and dinner then goes on as smoothly as it can, everyone enjoying it truly.

By the end of it, Amy's mother insists on doing the dishes while both lovers go pick a movie for the three of them to watch. In other times they would have argued with her, told her they could do it or at least help her, but they don't, actually relieved to have some time alone to discuss things.

 _Important_ things. Like how are they going to make their lie go through the night, for example…

"Can I… stay in your room, tonight?" the brunette girl is the one who brings the subject first.

"Why would you do that?!" Jake asks in surprise.

"Well, because that's what couples do, share a room. And we're a couple this weekend, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, true," he admits. "But why _my_ room, then?!"

"Because there's no way I'm letting my mother sleep in there, it's such a mess!" Amy complains.

"Eh, careful with what you say, if you don't want to be the one sleeping on the floor," Jake feels insulted by this comment. "I'll let you know I clean it quite often, thank you very much!"

"I know, I'm sorry," the girl calms down, burying her face in her hands for a second. "It's just… you know me. Plus it's _my_ mother, wouldn't it be weird to let her sleep in your bed instead of mine?!"

She actually has a point here. And Jake _does_ know her too, and how she can freak out sometimes. That's why he takes a way gentler voice when he answers, touching her arm to make her look at him again, "you're right, my room it is then. But what are you going to tell her when she sees that all your stuff is still in you room and not mine?"

"I… don't know?" Amy genuinely answers – she didn't think of it before, to be honest. However she quickly thinks about a good excuse for it. "I suppose I'll just tell her that since it's only been two months we're dating, and even if we're already living together because of this whole 'roommates situation' we don't want to rush things and only have one room for the both of us right now."

Her friend suddenly seems truly amused. "Look at you Santiago," he jokes, "how good you are at making up lies. Who would have seen that coming?"

She punches him in the ribs as a response to that, feeling the heat coming from her ears and down her cheeks as she's starting blusing. "This is not funny," she retorts in all seriousness, "I actually feel bad for doing it to her. For doing it to _you_ …"

"Oh, don't worry about that, I have _so many_ ideas for you to make it up to me," he laughs in an attempt to make her feel better about all of it, and manages to avoid it when she tries to punch him again. At least a smile is back on her face while she's doing so, and _it's all that matters_.

It doesn't take long for Elena to come back after that, just enough time for them to actually choose a movie, as they've been asked to do. That's how they end up all seated on the couch in front of _Die Hard_ – of course Amy let her roommate choose what he wanted them to watch tonight.

(And of course he didn't hesitate one bit to choose this one.)

She owes him that, and way more.

A few minutes from the beginning, Amy pulls herself further into her fake-boyfriend's side, and he naturally passes an arm around her shoulders as a response to it, without even looking her way. She lets her head fall in the crook of his neck – she suddenly feels so good in his embrace, can so easily picture herself acting like this in their everyday-life and all, she almost pulls herself away at the thought of it because she simply _can't_ think of it. She chooses to stay anyway.

How could she explain it to her mother otherwise? It's not as if she has a choice.

(It's not as if she wants to stay away from him now, either.)

Plus her friend doesn't seem to complain about their proximity, so she just tries to calm the fast beating of her heart, and focus on what is happening on the screen before her eyes.

She can't, though. Not when Jake's words from earlier during dinner choose to come back to her mind, and doesn't seem to want to leave her alone, shaking her so much.

 _And it's all that matters now because really, nothing matters most than her opinion to you._

 _That's more than just friendship and sharing a flat that you want with her. It's sharing her life._

That's how she finds herself, some time later, when they're alone in his bedroom and all is quiet around them now that her mother went to bed herself, telling him, "I didn't do it earlier, but I really must congratulate you. Even _I_ almost believed your speech about how you knew you were falling for me."

"I know, right?!" Jake suddenly feels nervous about his roommate bringing that subject back, and immediately tries to hide it behind a joke, so that she can't tell he meant it _for realz_. "I'm a hell of a good comedian, didn't you know that already? _I_ am the one who taught Bruce Willis everything he had to know to kill it like he does in _Die Hard_."

She can't help but laugh at that. He's so in love with those movies, that's insane. And it actually makes her feel a little bit better, to be able to joke around with him like they always do.

"I suppose I'm sleeping on the floor?" his question startles her, and all of a sudden everything comes back to being serious and awkward between them.

Why would he sleep on the floor? She can't let him sleep on the floor.

She doesn't _want_ him to sleep on the floor.

"Don't be so stupid," she starts reprimanding him, then. "We're two grown-up, intelligent people. And we're friends. So we can still share a bed without making a whole deal out of it, can't we?"

She's actually not quite sure if _she_ can not make a whole deal out of it when it comes to sharing a bed with _him_ and not Charles or Terry or any of her other guy friends, but she clearly won't tell him that. Well, seeing how he's grinning at her reply, she's afraid she said the last part out loud.

(Just like she did when she called him her _boyfriend_ in front of her mother.)

"What?!" she asks, praying for not having embarassed herself too much.

"You think I'm intelligent!" he's glowing now.

She can't keep the sigh of relief that comes out of her mouth at that. She still rolls her eyes at his childish comment though, even if she, too, wears a huge smile upon her face.

"Shut up," she answers, faking exasperation.

"Awww," he puts his hands together while looking at her and taking an exaggerated voice, just to mock her. "I love you too, babe."

She _knows_ he's only playing the game she came up with in the first place but God, his words go right through her core anyway, and it's not her fault if her stomach starts making her feel things she didn't ask for at the sound of what he told her. She tries not to overthink it – utterly fails at it – and go straight to bed, soon followed by her roommate.

She has a hard time finding sleep however, with Jake's breath she can feel on her back she has towards him, and his words stuck on her head again.

 _I love you too, babe._

Oh, how much she wishes he truly felt like it for her, and that this wasn't just a game…

* * *

The next day happens to go on way more smoothly that the last, without any awkward moment between the two roommates and Amy's mother. They spend the whole day wandering around the city, and except for having to hold hands while they're showing their guest New-York, they don't have to display that much shows of attentions to one another this time, or come with fake stories.

In the late afternoon they come back to the apartment, so that Elena can pick her stuff up and have some time to prepare before taking the taxi that will take her to the airport.

"Amy, sweetheart, can you go collect my things in your room for me, please?"

Her daughter guesses what she's really doing here – she wants to have some time alone with her fake-son-in-law to talk to him in private – and she's about to argue to prevent Jake from having to go through that moment, but when she actually looks at him, he only nods to make her know he doesn't mind being left alone with her. She doesn't say anything then, and does as she's asked.

Once she's sure her child is out of sight and can't hear her anymore, Elena speaks again. "I like you, Jake," she starts her own speech, and he blushes a little to that. He senses a _but_ , though, so doesn't take it for granted too early nor say anything in return just now. "And I'm only telling you what I'm going to share because of that," she continues.

Here it comes. Panic rushes through him a little – what is it she's going to tell him?!

"I know my daughter and you aren't actually in a relationship. I know she lied to me only because she's sick of me trying to set her up with my friends' sons. Or what I thought anyway, because after spending the whole weekend with you, I'm starting to think that maybe she simply wanted her lie to be reality. That's why I didn't say anything about it until now. And that's also why I almost believed you _were_ together – because you weren't really playing an act, finally."

The young man stays silent, processing what he's heard, and not knowing what he can, or can't say. It's something between Amy and her mother, not him. Well, him a little bit, but not him _alone_.

"I'm sorry we lied to you," he finally answers, though. "I was just… I was just trying to help my friend. Because with all due respect, that's how she sees me. As a friend, and nothing more."

He doesn't even try to deny that _he_ , on the other hand, sees her as more than just it. He lied enough to her throughout the weekend to add another one to the list.

"I can't really blame you for that," she answers. "I just wished she would have told me to stop, even if I can understand why she wouldn't, after all the times she tried to do so. I couldn't see at that time how upsetting it was for her, but I just wanted to help. It appears she didn't need my help after all, because she _does_ like you, Jake, I can assure you that. You know this thing she seems to do a lot, to 'double-tuck' her hair behind both her ears at the same time? Well, she doesn't do it that often, normally. Only when she's into someone. That's how I always managed to know who she had a crush on back when she was a teenager and wouldn't talk to be about these things. And well, all I could notice this weekend is that she did that every time you were around. Haven't you?"

He had, actually. He just didn't pay it much attention before, to be honest; thought it was nothing relevant. And now he's too overwhelmed by everything he's heard to think properly.

"Hum… interesting," is all he manages to reply then, turning is head towards where Amy is leaving her room with her mother's luggages in her hands, watching her with a tender smile as she seems lost in her own thoughts.

He can't add more to this, because the next second she's at his and Elena's sides, and they all have to say goodbye – meaning all of their pretending has come to an end.

"What did my mother tell you?" his roommate wants to know as soon as they're back to being alone – and friends, just friends, nothing more than _friends_.

"She told me she liked me," he grins, seemingly really happy about the fact.

"Seriously?" she seems surprised that's all she wanted to say – especially wanting to be _alone_ with him to tell him so.

"Yep. Is it that difficult to imagine, someone actually liking me?"

"No…"

There's no joke here. No sign of amusement in her voice. Just plain truth. _It's even so easy to like him,_ she thinks, _she's completely fallen for him…_

"Listen, Jake…" she seems hesitant when she take the floor again, hardly looking him in the eye. "I know you told me several times already it's okay, but I'm really sorry I dragged you with me in this whole situation. I hope I didn't ruin your weekend too much. I know it's bad what I did, and I promise I will call my mother to explain everything as soon as she's back home. I should have never done that, I realise it now – and I will never do that again. You've acted so nicely all weekend, so if you want me to do anything for you, you just have to ask, I will…"

She's rambling so much, it makes him smile wider and wider at every new sentence she says because of how adorable she is right now, trying to explain herself. She doesn't have to, though – he isn't mad at her for anything. Couldn't be mad at her for anything anyway.

The only thought he has in mind are her mother's words. That's why, when she finally stop talking and double-tucks her hair behind both her ears, waiting for him to answer something, anything that would make her feel better about the whole situation, he finally takes the chance.

He doesn't say anything, no. The only reply he gives her is by _kissing_ her.

She seems surprised at first – she didn't think _this_ would happen of all things, even when she had dreamed of it, but soon enough she answers it, finally allowing herself to melt into his embrace and _truly_ and _fully_ enjoy it.

Because it's not play-pretend this time. It is _real_.

(When she calls her mother later that night, she indeed tells her the whole truth. They lied to her throughout the weekend about their romantic relationship, yeah.

But they're not anymore.)


	4. Roma-nce

**Just some post-jail Peraltiago fluffy holidays :)  
**

 **(The "fully drama" OS I talked about will still come, I'm just waiting for it to be proof-read so in the meantime I wrote this haha. It's unbeta'd though, so sorry for the possible mistakes!)**

* * *

They chose Rome, finally – Paris was way too expensive.

Everything started as just some project they made when Jake was still in jail, to try and keep hope that they would still have a future ahead together – to think of the better instead of the worst.

Everything started as just some project they made when Jake was still in jail, though here they are, a few months later, walking hand-in-hand and quietly visiting Italy's capital city in the morning of the last day of their perfectly-scheduled one-week trip. And while Amy was the one who planned the first six days of it, Jake weirdly insisted on taking care of what they would do for their last.

It wasn't really like him to do so, but it was a pretty good surprise, so Amy let him, even though she got quite worried when he wouldn't tell her what he had in mind as an ending to their holiday.

She knows him well, after all, and his somewhat eccentric ideas.

But that's also what she loves about him and their relationship, to be fair – all the unexpectedness that comes with dating a guy like this one, who's her total opposite on this point. Because she's always been so attached to her life calendars and plannings when sometimes, he made her realise, it's just good not _knowing_ what is to come. Not having it all under control every time.

And a life with Jake… well, it's a life always full of surprises.

And now that the D-day has arrived, and that she's already been woken up by a breakfast full of her favourite meals in bed, she's not worried anymore, not even a bit. She's just genuinely excited of what else is to come for her, while they're heading towards the Trevi Fountain, that's just a few meters away from the little apartment they're renting for the week.

This is their first stop, where they're going to go on a full-tourist mode and take pictures while throwing a coin into the water to make a wish, after having seen people do it the whole week.

Amy's wish is to never ever have to be separated from Jake again. Three times is already too much – she wouldn't bear having to live through all of that once more.

After that, they head towards some place up the city, never letting go of each other's hand, where they'll have a pretty good view of it all from there, Jake explains his choice to Amy, excitement easily readable in his brown eyes. And while he's always acted cute with her, she really _can't_ deny that, she also noticed from the beginning of the day he's acting even cuter than normal, buying her roses when some seller stop them to ask them if they wanted one.

She won't complain, though, of course not. He's clearly trying his best to catch up with the time they were away from each other, to make their last memories of this trip the best ones possible, and she can't be thankful enough for that. Can't be thankful enough to have him by her side right now, and hopefully forever.

She's been so scared the past weeks that they wouldn't find a way to disculpate him, and Rosa…

But they finally did, and now they're back together. In Rome. On holidays.

Nothing could make her happier than that.

She's so lost in her thoughts and love for her boyfriend, it takes her a few seconds to realise they stopped. Jake is standing close, looking deeply at her, waiting for her to react in some way.

Waiting for her opinion about the spot he chose to watch the view.

He truly wishes she likes it – he read on the Internet it was supposed to be the best place to have an overview of Rome, but that doesn't matter anymore if _she_ doesn't think so as well.

"So… how do you like it?" he finally asks when she remains silent, her eyes now wandering all over the place to look at everything that surrounds them.

There is a cute park, some people playing music in the background, and you can really see a huge part of the city from above from where they stand.

"It's… truly wonderful," she answers once her inspection finished, and she means it.

Jake doesn't need nothing more to relax, and a smile suddenly appears on his face. "Wait until you see the square below," he points towards a small wall where you can lean on to watch what's underneath. She goes straight to it then, and Jake follows, but stops a few steps before her.

She expects a beautiful square, as the ones they already saw the whole week, with some foutain and all, and even though it _is_ a beautiful one indeed, that's not what catches her attention most when she looks down.

No, that's the big "I love you so much, Amy Santiago," written in big red chalk letters in the middle of it, that you can only read from up there. It startles her at first, to the point that she even asks herself if _she_ is the Amy Santiago this message is talking about, because how and when the hell Jake could have done that without her noticing, but soon a warm feeling takes over her heart, and she comes back to her senses, and she can't help but smile, staring at the uncommon declaration of love.

 _Of course_ it's for her and no other Amy Santiago than herself, and no matter how he managed to do it, he _did_ and it's not even a surprise finally, because it's Jake we're talking about.

The kind of guy that can find some lion cub to bring to a first fake-date.

It's not that difficult to image he could do that as well, then.

After few more seconds she finally turns to tell him what she thinks about it all (and ask him what she did to deserve such a cute desplay of attention), but the words get stuck in her throat when she finds herself face-to-face with him kneeling in front of her, a box in his hands shown in her direction. _Is he really going to..?_ her heart beats faster and faster with any second passing.

"Amy Santiago," he starts his speech when he can tell he has her full attention, grinning widely. "You've made me the happiest man on Earth. Promise, this ring cost me more than just one dollar."

Hearing that, a giggle escapes her mouth, taken back to a time he already "proposed" to her for a bet. Never would have she thought at that time it would happen for real, and that she would be here, beaming broadly at her boyfriend instead of looking disgusted while waiting for him to finish his sentence and give him the answer she actually doesn't _have_ to give him this time – but simply _want_ to anyway. More than anythings she's wanted in the world.

"Will you marry me?" he eventually says the words, and can't help but add in an amused tone, not letting her answer him right away, looking away from her for the first time (and for no more than one second only), seeing all the curious people who stopped in whatever they were doing here to watch this cute couple live the time of their lives, "you have to say 'yes', please, I don't want to be ridiculed in front of all these strangers!"

She laughs again, happy tears now falling down her cheeks when she anwers, giving him her hand so that he can put the (wonderful, she has to admit he chose it right when he opens the box to let her see what's inside) ring on her finger. "Yes, a thousand times yes!"

It fits perfectly – doesn't get stuck like it did for Jake those couple years ago when he replied the same thing to her. And, once the ring has found the place where its belong, Jake doesn't wait any longer and stands up so that he can kiss his new _fiancée_ , his hand at her waist to pull her closer.

It's not the first time they kiss, of course it isn't, but there's something in it, some promise of a future and _forever_ that makes it even better than all the ones they shared before.

Around them people are actually cheering and clapping, but they don't hear them. They're way too caught-up in _their_ moment to care about anyone else than only the other.

"I love you so much too," Amy whispers into his ear whey they eventually part, still holding tight to each other though, never wanting to let go. Her smile only grows wider when she opens her eyes, and sees the diamond of her ring shine in the sun while resting on Jake's shoulder.

They may have gone through hell the past few monts, but now everything's back to being good.

 _Better than ever_ , even.


	5. Come Back (I Still Need You)

**This is kind of slightly inspired by a scene in** ** _Celeste and Jesse Forever_** **(even though I'm not sure you'll be able to tell which one it is if you've seen the movie since both contexts are _very_ different haha), with Jake and Amy having broken up a while ago, and seeing each other again at one of their colleague's funeral. Based some time in the future.**

 **Yep, I know, that's not funny at all for a funny show, but it's not my fault, I just love drama too much xD There's a bit of fluff ahead in this, though.**

 **(The title is some lyrics from the song** ** _Hold On_** **by Chord Overstreet.)**

* * *

It's the first time she's coming back to their (his _own_ , now, she reprimands herself) apartment since the day they decided to break everything up a few months ago, when she truly thought she never would have to live through that painful experience again now that she had found him.

She really saw herself actually grow old with him, with marriage and children at some point, but it seems that everything couldn't always go as she planned. As _they_ both planned them.

Because it appears Jake was wrong, when he told her, just before she took her test, that it would only change their lives for the better. That they would be alright.

They believed it, though, at the beginning, when she got transferred to the other side of the state to start her career as a newly-graded sergeant. They _truly_ believed they would manage to keep their relationship working, even when long-distance.

It wasn't as if it would be the first time they were separated.

Anyway they soon had to come to the conclusion that they just couldn't go on like this, finally – no matter how hurtful this realisation was for them. They decided then, on mutual agreement and with a lot of non-hidden sadness on both parts, to simply call their romance off.

And now here she is, on this even sadder day (that has now turned into the night, to be completely correct), waiting to find the guts she needs to knock on her ex's door.

It won't be the first time since their breakup she sees him again, though. In fact she already has, a few hours ago, and some other times before that as well, when she was back at the precinct to see her friends and colleagues. But it was never for too long – and surely never just the two of them.

Rosa told her once that despite what he would tell the others, and his seemingly very "cool" and detached way of reacting to the events from the outside, deep down he was having a super-hard time dealing with it all – her being away in some other part of the country, and them not being together anymore. Amy wasn't really surprised, when she first heard it.

After all, she was feeling the exact same way than he was…

(She still is, to be honest.)

So she chose not to bother him too much with her presence when she came back in New-York City the previous times, so that he wouldn't be reminded of what they were, but aren't anymore. So that _she_ wouldn't be reminded of it all, either.

Tonight is different, though. The reason for her being here is different. And she needs him by her side, right now.

 _He_ needs her too, she knows, more than anyone else.

Well, surely he would need _him_ most, but unfortunately, he isn't there anymore.

That's why she's currently standing in her old building, just as she's been for the past fifteen minutes at least, in the middle of the dark and silent corridor. She couldn't manage to find some sleep, all alone in her hotel room she rented for the weekend she's spending in town, only two blocks away from Jake's place.

Did she chose it to be that close to him on purpose?

Maybe.

 _Yes._

Anyway, she can tell he's awake too, because of the light she can make out from behind the closed door, and what she guesses is some noise coming from the television.

Simply because she knows him _that_ well, also.

She finally pushes herself into knocking, then – she can't stay like this all night long. She doesn't have to wait long before we came to open to her, and after hearing something fall and then someone curse under their breath, Jake appears right in front of her, eyes red of having cried too much, and a glass in one of his hands. For a second only he seems startled to see her there, at his door in the middle of the night and in what she believes is a state as pitiful as his own, before all she can read on his face again is pure seriousness.

"Santiago," he greets her with nothing more than just a nod – not even using her first name.

His voice is so neutral, so void of any emotion, so… professional, she can only assume he's doing so to put as much distance with her as possible. And though it hurts, she understands.

It's something they did several times in the past already, when they tried to play-pretend while not being together yet; when they tried to persuade themselves into thinking they didn't feel anything for the other while it was actually the case – and it had been for some time.

But she doesn't want to play-pretend, this time. Doesn't have the strength to stay away from him.

Not tonight. Not after what happened and what could _have_ happened.

Not when they're as broken as they are, and in need of each other.

So she just gives in, and without any word or any kind of warning takes a step forward, emptying the small space between their two bodies… and ends up straight into his arms.

Soon she finds herself burying her face into his neck, breathing in his scent, and finally allows herself to let her tears fall down her cheeks, and on his chest, letting go of all she kept inside until now. It's all that it takes for what was at first a timid hug to which Jake barely answered (mostly because he had been taken aback by the unpredictable gesture) to turn into a tight embrace, pulling her further against his chest and wordlessly caressing her back with his free hand to try and calm her as much as he can do so.

He's relieved when he notices it's working, from the way she ultimately relaxes.

They've never hugged like this a lot before, even when still in a relationship, but Amy felt the urge to do so the moment she saw him for the first time that day, so lost and so lonely between all his coworkers (minus one) and these people coming to give them their condolences.

She needed to feel him close to her, feel his heart beat with hers.

Feel him well. Feel him _alive_.

Because Terry had told her, when he called her a few days back to inform her of the sad news that had fallen upon the Nine-Nine, that _he_ could have been the one they buried this afternoon.

He _should_ have been the one they buried this afternoon, even.

But, as the best friend-slash-partner he's always been, the one and only Charles Boyle took the bullet for him in a complete act of bravery and selflessness, proving one more time (one _last_ time) he was ready to give literally everything he had – even his own _life_ – for the younger detective, leaving a mourning child and girlfriend behind.

(Leaving a whole mourning squad-become-family behind.)

A moment of silence passes between the pair of former lovers when they finally part. They stare awkwardly at each other, not knowing what to say, standing still, until Amy takes the floor.

 _She_ is the one who came to her ex-boyfriend's apartment in the middle of the night, after all, because she needs someone to talk to. Because she needs to talk to _him_.

He's always been the only one with whom she's been willing to speak about her problems, and who understands her better than anyone else in the world – distance or no distance.

It can't take that away from her – from _them_.

So she asks, "may I… come in?". Her voice falters a little when she realises for the first time since she arrived that maybe, since he didn't offer it himself in the first place, he doesn't want her here.

That he may want to be alone, and grieve in peace.

(Well, in his alcohol, mostly, hence the liquid contained in his glass right now.)

"Sure," he quickly answers though, and this simple word out of Jake's mouth is exactly what she needs to let out the breath she didn't even know she was holding until now.

He lets her in then, pushing himself a little bit to the side of the doorway so that she can make her way through his home, and she doesn't wait for him to tell her twice – she simply rushes inside the room. She doesn't know what she was expecting before entering but she's genuinely surprised to see nothing has changed since her last visit there, so many months ago.

Everything is just the same as it were before she left.

Or at least, _almost_ everything.

There's this one picture of the both of them, the one he got framed after one of their significant victories over the Vulture back when they weren't even dating yet and that he took back from the precinct when they decided to move in together, that had been in their bedroom before, and is now lying in the living-room. Surely is it because it was too hard for him to handle having to see her face every morning after waking up and every night before going to bed, but he also was too attached to it to consider simply getting rid of it.

Amy would know that – she's done the same with the photography that was taken of them during their cruise and that she took with her to her new apartment, never _ever_ letting go of it.

After this little inspection of hers, she does as if she's at home (she _has_ been at home there at some point after all, even before it became _their_ home, and then only _his_ when she had to go away) and sits on the couch without waiting for him to invite her to do so. He doesn't seem to complain about it and just leaves a few seconds before coming back with a second glass in his hand, and joins her on the sofa. He makes sure to keep a sensible distance between their bodies though, a few inches away from one another.

He remains quiet when he fills the new glass with whatever he's drinking himself, not bothering asking her if she even wants one. They still haven't exchanged much words since the beginning, and maybe this will help the atmosphere relax, she hopes. Only when he passes her the now full-of-tequila (she read it on the half-empty bottle that lays on the table) container and their fingers brush does he look up at her, and attempts at a smile. He raises his glass, and finally takes the floor.

"To Charles," he cheers. "The best friend and partner I'll ever have…"

She can see the tears prickle in his eyes, and her heart aches at the sight. She wants to help him, she truly does, but she just cannot figure out how right now. So, instead of letting him drink his pain away alone as he was doing before she arrived, she chooses to accompany him.

"To Charles," she repeats in a whisper, afraid she will crack up if she says it out loud, and after clicking their glasses together, they take them down in one, then repeat the process.

 _Several times._

No need to say that soon enough they both ended up completely drunk. But it really _did_ help them get through the awkwardness of their reunion, and now they're weirdly laughing together while telling each other stories about their new lives, getting closer and closer each new passing minute.

(Put that on alcohol for making them, if only for one moment, forget how desperate they are on the inside, eaten up by the loss of their dear colleague.)

Jake is in the middle of relating everything that happened at the Nine-Nine that Amy missed – which is, in fact, _a lot_ , knowing the group of detectives that is under Captain Holt's command –, their heads only laying an inch from each other now, all safety-distance forgotten for awhile, when she stops him in his ramblings.

"Wait," she gently taps his cheek with her finger, making them both giggle a little bit more. "That can't be true," she denies his words. "You're making all that up, aren't you?"

He doesn't answer anything, simply stares at her while she's herself looking at him with an amused and _oh so adorable_ smile upon her face. The kind of smiles she only gives _him_.

Now more than ever he realises how much he's missed it. Not only this – her smiling at him like _that_ – but also _this_ – being just the two of them again. Having fun.

Something he would never have thought of having, especially not tonight, after the events of the day. They are anyway. She's doing the impossible; manages to calm him and his pain down a little.

He would be so lost without her, right now. Probably still drunk, but in the _sad_ way of being drunk.

Actually, he's already so lost without her – has been since the day she left town… and _him_.

"Hey, Jake!" he's taken back to reality by the one he was just thinking about. "What is it?"

There's concern in her eyes, and her hand resting on his face isn't playful anymore. She's no longer smiling either. And he hates it, to be the one to make her feel that way, because of the depressing thoughts that suddenly came to his mind, and the sorrow she must have read into his own orbs.

So he chooses to put everything away, trying to relax in her touch while offering her a shy rictus.

"It's just," he starts his confession, amusement back in his voice at the image of it, "you, me, both sitting on this couch completely drunk and telling each other funny stories… It reminds me of our first real date and how we ended up in here after having too many shots of tequila."

Definitely not the answer the young woman had seen coming. Even though of course she thought of it as well – they really _are_ in the same position as they were when they went out for the first time. Only the circumstances are completely different. They came from a funeral, for one.

And they're not dating anymore either.

That's how she notices how close they got during the past hour, and that their foreheads actually almost touch now. And their lips… well, it's simple; they're _that_ close to kiss if only one of them makes the first step towards the other and go to reach them.

A thought Jake seems to also share, given how often his eyes go back and forth from her own to her slightly-open mouth with a small smile lighting his features.

She doesn't reply with anything; only smiles back as an answer to his words. What can she say anyway?

She can't think properly anymore, not after having drunk that much throughout the night (she's way beyond the stage of X-drink-Amy people already know), not when her ex-lover looks at her like _that_ , and sighs in defeat at her stubborn silence, adding to his previous words, "I miss you…".

And just with that, he closes his eyes, and leans in, doing what he's been desperate to do (what they've _both_ been desperate to do) from the moment he realised how close they were – from the moment he saw her at his door – from even earlier than that…

He brushes her lips with his. He doesn't kiss her right away though, let her some time to back off if she wants to, if she thinks he's going too far. The way _she_ kisses him back tells him everything he has to know to not pull away from her, and soon his hand is at her waist to keep her close, and when it's free of his glass he hasn't left since he sat on the couch, his other one goes straight to her hair that he tenderly and eagerly caresses. Her own hands also are on his body – rediscovering it after all these months.

She's _so_ into the thing, putting into this kiss and shared embrace all the emotions she felt during the past few days – how much she's missed him, how scared she's been for him, for his _life_ , how sad she is for having lost their common friend… And he, for the first time since his best friend died in front of him ( _for_ him), feels like living again.

Breathing again.

They're grinning at each other when they finally part, their heads and hands still touching though, and Amy has to take some time for herself so that the beating of her heart can slow down.

"I miss you too," she whispers eventually, then puts her lips on his again.

And again.

And again.

They can't seem to stop, now that they've found each other again. Don't _want_ to stop. They just want to catch up on the time they've lost and won't have back. And thus more than ever now that they've both been reminded of how short life can actually be – even more so for people like them, with their risky jobs.

"Charles would be _so happy_ right now," Jake breaks the quietness of their moment after some time with a laugh that sounds half-amused, half-nervous, the image of his colleague suddenly coming back to his mind while they're still kissing and the effects of alcohol starts leaving his body. "If he could see us now," he adds when he sees the question in the young woman's frowned eyes.

She laughs too, because he's right. Charles had always been the #1 fan of their love story. And, from what her ex-boyfriend told her earlier, it also appears he'd been the one who felt the saddest when he learnt about their breakup. He couldn't just believe it. They were meant for each other, according to him. Meant to die together at an old, old age.

Not to call of things as they did.

Oh, how much they're going to miss him…

"Even his last words were about you, you know," he goes on confessing, taking Amy back to reality with his words. He's suddenly really serious, and straightens up in the couch, putting himself a little bit away from her. "That I should take his death for me as a second chance to go after you and not letting you go ever again."

She doesn't know what to tell him, so she simply remains silent. She's hurt in her heart though, from not feeling him close anymore and to see the desperate look back on his face.

"It should have been me," he can't stop talking now, and share all he feels about Charles's death that he repressed until now, his voice breaking more and more with each new sentence.

She hurts more and more too as he goes on, even if she always knew that moment would come at some point. That he would think that. And what would she give to be able to help him right now…

To take his pain away, even just a tiny bit of it.

"It should have been me," she lets him spill it out, then, knowing that's what he needs to do. "He should have never taken this bullet for me, I should have prevented it. Why would he do that?! I know I'm… I _was_ ," he quickly corrects himself, his eyes looking at the floor, "his best friend, but he had so much more to live for than me. People way more important than me to be there for! Nikolaj, and a woman who loves him… I don't have any of it anymore. I should have died, not him. It wouldn't have mattered as much as his death does, for anyone."

If Amy wasn't already crying, his very last words, that he told with so much defeat in his voice, so angry and disgusted at himself, so persuaded of the fact he had no-one who loved him _that_ much also, she would have burst into tears hearing them. But she's already crying, so she simply invites him – _prays_ him – to lie down on the couch, making him rest his head on her lap.

He's at the verge of breaking down (and, to be honest, she kind of is too), she can sense it. As an attempt to calm him down (to calm _herself_ down? she doesn't really know anymore, at that point), she starts gently stroking his hair, salty pearls falling down both their cheeks.

Only then she confesses. "It would have for me," she says in a quiet murmur between two sobs.

He stares at her in silence for some time, his brown eyes piercing her from inside, and she holds his gaze throughout the whole time he tries to figure out if she's telling this just to make him feel better, or if she truly thinks so. He seems contempt with what he sees in her own orbs, because he offers her what is supposed to be a smile but doesn't really look like it, and takes her hand in his, kindly squeezing it between his fingers.

"Don't leave, please," he begs, and she knows he's not only talking about tonight, but _forever_. He wouldn't be able to go through another separation. Not after all that happened.

(She's not sure she would be able of that as well.

No, in fact she _knows_ she wouldn't.)

She lays behind him on the couch then, encircling him with her arms around his waist, and lets her head rest on his shoulder. She's looking up at him when she promises, "I'm not going anywhere."

She means it, with her whole heart. She won't tell him yet, because it's not official (soon will be, though), but she's got a promotion and can go back to working in New-York City if she wants to.

And _of course_ she wants to.

He softens a bit into her embrace at that, knowing he can believe her, even though he doesn't know _how_ she'll manage to stay. He trusts her, more than he'll ever trust anyone. She'll find a way.

And he loves her. _So, so much._ He never stopped doing so, even when away from one another. And that's something he doesn't wait to remind her of, while closing his eyes, tiredness starting to take over his whole body, exhausted from all the emotions of the day – and night.

"I love you too," are the last words he hears before blacking out, _really_ feeling at home in this apartment of his for the first time in months – for the first time since she left it.

Everything's going to be alright in the end, they both know that now, no matter how long it'll take them to go through their grief and be completely happy again. As long as they're together…

* * *

 **I really love Charles and so I was truly sad to have to kill him but well… I figured he was the best one for this role, given his relationship with Jake and how much he ships him and Amy together haha! Plus I would have felt sad killing anybody anyway to be honest, so I had to pick one.  
**

 **(Also I just hope the reason behind Jake and Amy's breakup in the first place makes some kind of sense – even though we all know there's no reason they would break up. But I hope it's something that could happen IRL, her being transferred that far away from where she was in the first place haha.)**


	6. The (Magical) Bet

**Even if that's not really done on purpose, to celebrate the "19 years later" in _Harry Potter_ that is today... here's a little re-do of _The Bet_ , Hogwarts-stylez :)**

 **(I've just gotten an AO3 account so I don't know if I'll still post my B99 fics here, but you can find me there under the same pen name if you want, or on Tumblr at b99peraltiago!)**

* * *

"That's all right, Miss Santiago. +10 points for Ravenclaw!"

Amy is wearing a huge grin on her face at her professor's statement when she turns in her chair to look at the person sitting right behind her – her friend from another house, Jake Peralta. She's got a piece of paper in her hands that she doesn't wait to show him proudly.

And, as they're both staring at it, a magical spell the girl casted upon it almost one year ago starts making the _Peralta: 69 / Santiago: 67_ already written on it suddenly change into a _Peralta: 69 / Santiago: 77_ without her having to do anything about it more than just look as the changes happen.

"So, Peralta," she can't help but tease him, literally glowing. "Who's winning now, huh?"

"I believe _I_ am," he answers with a smug smile, rather confident as he raises his hand. She frowns, confused – this is clearly not the kind of reaction she's been expecting from him.

But, as she turns back to face their Potions Master and Head of Hufflepuff House, the one and only Professor Terrence Jeffords, and sees him with a little vial in his hand, she's quick to understand with wild horror what's happening here: she's been so lost in her victory she didn't even hear him ask the question he obviously asked – what _is_ this thing he's holding in front of his classroom?

"Yes, Mister Peralta?" the professor questions his student, to most of Amy's annoyance.

"This, Mister Jeffords," Jake begins to recite in his most serious voice, trying not to show too much he's beaming while he speaks (but quite failing at it), "is, I believe, called _veritaserum_. It's a very dangerous potion. Only three drops of it are enough to make you reveal your darkest secrets to everyone. For example, give it to Santiago, and she'll tell you that during fourth year, she bought our new Headmaster gifts for Christmas before learning he doesn't accept any present at all and she had to turn them _all_ back…"

 _Of course_ he had to add this last comment. _Of course_ he had to turn his explanation into a joke – a joke that concerned _her_ , because it wouldn't be funny, otherwise. That's typical of Jake.

She's used to it by now, after spending almost seven years by his side in this wizardry school.

And though it infuriates her a little, that he would give away her secrets like that, making everyone stare at her, _laugh_ at her, it's not the worst part of it all. No, the worst part is what follows, when the Head of Hufflepuff House answers to that, seeming amazed by his actual knowledge of the thing, and the immediate impact it has on the scores on her piece of paper.

"I must admit, you impress me those days, Peralta. That's exactly it. +15 points for Gryffindor!"

 _Peralta: 84 / Santiago: 77._

She groans looking at it. Finally this bet was maybe a terrible idea, she thinks.

At the beginning of the academic year, when Jake came to her with this plan of making their last year at Hogwarts more challenging by betting on whom of the two students would bring the more points to their respective house throughout the year, she was sure it would be easy to beat him.

She was one of the brightest – if not _the_ brightest – students of the school, after all, and the boy was better known to make his house actually _lose_ points more than win some, with his childish behaviour that often led to dire consequences. That's why she was fast to agree on going to the Summer Ball with him if he wins their competition – a tradition their new Headmaster, Raymond Holt, came up with two years prior when he took their last Headmaster's place after he retired.

If _she_ wins, however, he has to give her his beloved Quidditch broomstick, the most precious object he owns, with which he's won his first match ever against Slytherin, and a lot more after that (and, according to his best friend Charles, the #1 reason behind his chances with girls).

But now that the end of their bet is sooner to come than ever – they have a few hours left, and only two more classes they won't even spend together but with students of the two other houses before their last last day of studying is over – and that Jake is currently winning again, she doesn't feel that confident anymore. For the first time since they shook hands all those months ago to seal it, she has to consider the fact that _maybe_ , she won't be the one winning that bet.

And it literally _kills_ her on the inside.

It's not that she feels that disgusted about going on a date with Jake – yes, he's incapable of acting serious for more than five minutes and yes, he always finds a way to mock her, but he's also her friend – one of her _best_ friends, she would dare say – and _fun_ and she _knows_ that no matter what he comes up with to ridicule her on the "worst date ever" as he called it she will actually have a good time if he _does_ win their bet –, and it's not that she desperately needs his broomstick either (hers is better anyway, and despite what she can tell him, she has no plan to burn it just to piss him off if _she_ wins their bet) but it's just that she's a _really_ competitive witch, who doesn't like to loose anything, especially if it's against _this guy_ because she has to admit it… he's her best opponent and has already beaten her several times throughout their years at Hogwarts.

She doesn't let all those emotions take over her mind though, and does her best to answer every new question their professor asks, not letting herself being distracted again until the end of their last shared course. Scores are tight when finally they leave the room and she gives her paper to one of the Gryffindor girls that also happens to be a shared friend of theirs, Rosa Diaz, so that they can't look at it until they're reunited again to keep the suspense complete for them both, but she's winning again by three points when they part to join their following classes.

"Good luck, Peralta," she tells him, her victorious grin back on her face. "I believe you'll need it."

"May the best wizard – that is, _me_ –, win!" he tops, same look on his features.

They shake hands, not leaving the other's gaze in challenge, then eventually part ways.

It's only a few hours later, when all students of the school are gathering around in the Great Hall of the building for the End-of-Term Feast that is to reveal which of the four houses is the winner of the House Cup this year that they meet again. They exchange a quick glare full of confidence, both _sure_ they're the one who won their bet after all the efforts they put in those last hours of classes without the other, but don't say anything. They only head towards their respective tables.

When everyone is finally seated and ready to listen, Raymond Holt starts the ceremony by standing up and making all students go quiet at once by just clicking his fork against his glass. "It won't be a surprise to anyone," he begins his speech in a monotonous tone that is characteristic of his when not a noise can be heard anymore, "but today was your last day of school before you all go back home for the summer break after tomorrow's Summer Ball."

He's interrupted by a voice echoing between the walls of the big room. "What, already?!"

All eyes suddenly turn from their Headmaster to the assembly to see who could have made such a stupid comment. No one's really surprised when they spot one of the Slytherin boys and oldest students in the school, Norm Scully, wearing a confused look on his face. He doesn't really seem to bother being judged by all those pairs of orbs, though – simply goes back to eating whatever is in his plate that he didn't wait for the others to fill and start dinner without them.

"How come I have been sorted in the same house as this guy?" another green and silver girl sitting not that far away from him, Gina Linetti, complains with a desperate sigh and rolling eyes. "I don't want to be associated with that kind of person anymore, I'm _way_ better than that. But I suppose I'm too good for any house anyway."

"Any other comment someone would like to share with us?" Holt says with irony, exasperated by what he's hearing right now.

"Actually, yes," Jake takes the floor, and the older wizard _really_ should have seen that coming from him. "When comes the moment you say you're proud of me not having caused any sort of chaos in the castle this year?" He's grinning, and everyone around him starts laughing.

"No chaos, huh? Shall I remind you of the Phoenix Incident in front of everyone, Mister Peralta?"

He needs to add no more to make him go quiet and lose his smug smile.

"That's what I thought," he goes on, only the tiniest hint of a rictus making his mouth go upwards. "So, what I was trying to say is that it's now time to reward the house that stood out from the others this year, to see if Hufflepuff will keep their title or will be beaten by another house…"

He pauses, making a sign with his head to the Prefect of the Hufflepuff House to come and hand him the famous House Cup while everyone watch them do in religious silence, eager to know who this year's winner will be. Jake and Amy finally allow themselves to look at each other, which they haven't done from the beginning of the ceremony – this is it, _the_ moment of truth.

They decided, earlier this term, to make things even more interesting, that if one of their two houses won the House Cup, they could add a +10 points to their own scores as a bonus – an advantage that could change the final results entirely, making the apparent winner finally lose.

"I won't make you wait any longer," Hogwart's Headmaster soon reveals, "with a score of 1054 points collected throughout the year, Ravenclaw is the new winner of the House Cup this time! Congratulations, you deserve it, and I'm not telling you that because I come from the Ravenclaw House myself."

" _YES!"_

There are cheers from the table full of blue and brown students, but the one you can hear most is probable from Amy, who can't seem to stop screaming (and dancing) her happiness, clapping all of her friends' hands before looking away towards the Gryffindor's table in search of someone in the crowd, a few meters from her. She's _glowing_ when she finds his gaze, a taunting grin upon her face never leaving her features as she stares at him – there's _no way_ in the wizard world he did better than her now that she's been granted ten more points thanks to her house's win of the cup.

He knows that as much as she does, given how disappointed he looks back at her. Not only did his house not win, but _he_ also lost his bet against Amy. He doesn't know what saddens him the most.

He doesn't know if it's the fact that he actually lost… or that he won't go to the ball with her, now.

"I'd like to personally ask Miss Amy Santiago to come collect her house's prize," Holt speaks again when the students' euphoria has finally calmed down a bit and he can make himself heard again. "As a Prefect of the House first, but also as someone who, all by herself, collected no more than 93 points for Ravenclaw – and no more than 35 only _today_ , which makes her the second best student of the school."

" _Second_ best?!" she suddenly stops smiling, fear coursing through her veins as she lets the words bitterly slip out of her mouth. She tries to stay calm, though, not to jump on conclusions too quickly – okay, maybe Jake beat her by a few points. That's a possibility. But what _isn't_ possible is that he collected more than 103 all by himself. She's still the winner of their bet… isn't she?!

"Yes, Miss Santiago," the older man is soon to give her the answer she seeks. "That was a surprise for me too, to discover that for his last year by our sides, Mister Peralta was actually able to collect no more than 104 points all by himself for Gryffindor. I might not be proud of you 'not making any chaos in the castle' but this I am _truly_ proud of."

This time, it's what makes him _the happiest_ that Jake doesn't know – the fact that he won their bet, or that Holt is actually _proud_ of him. But he _does_ know this day is turning _great_ , though.

On the other side, his opponent is still not moving. _One_ point. He beat her by _one_ point only – well, actually eleven, since the ten more she's been granted are just a bonus. But still.

She was _that_ close to winning, that close to count this day as the best of her life because of all the great things her mentor said about her, but now that she's looking around and seeing her friend grinning back at her and dancing and _coming_ to her, she has to admit all this isn't just a bad dream.

It's true. _He_ won the bet – not her.

Suddenly having her house being awarded House of the Year isn't that great anymore.

Not when Jake is now by her side, and bends on one knee, all the attention gathered around them.

With a flick of his wrist, wand in hand, he makes confettis fall all around them as he asks her, a little box containing an apparent cheap ring handed to her, "Amy Santiago, you've made me the happiest wizard in the wizardry world. Would you go on the worst date with me at the Summer Ball tomorrow? You have to say 'yes'."

She sighs, defeated, and has no other choice than answer what he wants her to.

"Yes."

There is even more cheers than when the winner of the House Cup was announced.

Only Amy's isn't one of them, this time.

* * *

When she enters the Great Hall again the following evening with Jake accompanying her, the first thing Amy notices is how it's been completely redecorated for the occasion. The usual four houses tables have been removed, keeping only one of them in one side of the room for the buffet to be installed upon – and what a buffet, full of all the different dishes someone could wish for.

It isn't actual lights that are illuminating the place, but a ceiling full of stars, as if there were no roof altogether. Some other little decorations can be spotted on the walls or in the air – all in blue and bronze, like the colours of the house that won the cup this year. Everything is wonderful, _magical_ around them, with a lot of space in the centre of it liberated for those who want to dance.

"Wow," the girl can't keep the impressed sound from escaping her mouth while she takes a deep look as she and her date make their way inside the big hall.

"Yeah… as you say… _wow_ ," Jake agrees, but he's not talking about the room. Not even _looking_ at it. He doesn't seem able to leave his gaze from Amy, who's truly beautiful in the blue dress he told her to wear for the event, and more especially now that the ceiling is enlightening her whole body and giving away her astonished expression that makes her look even more adorable.

He doesn't say another word, though, and simply takes her hand in his, leading her towards the crowd and to where their friends are waiting for them to all enjoy their last night together.

She's a bit startled by the unexpected touch at first, and gives him a confused glance, but when he just shrugs and smiles in return, she doesn't comment and simply follows him. He smiles even bigger, relieved she didn't push him away, and glad he changed his plans last minute last night.

He doesn't want to ridicule her anymore. Doesn't want to take her on this "worst date ever".

All he wants is for her to actually enjoy the ball. And, maybe… let her know about his feelings.

Feelings he didn't even know he had the day before – or, at least, he didn't want to _think_ about.

Hopefully his best friend is one clumsy Hufflepuff who happened to break the vial of _veritaserum_ they've been studying, swallowing some on the way. The effects were immediate on him, and as soon as he saw his friend, between a lot of compliments and declarations of friendship and embarrassing stories about himself (most of which Jake already knew about anyway) he spilled one truth that actually made the young Gryffindor cogitate the whole night, incapable of finding sleep after that.

 _All this teasing, this elaborate date you've been working on the whole year… I think you do all this because you actually like Amy. Like…_ like _her, like her. Why don't you just talk to her? This might be your last chance, you know. Since after tomorrow, we'll all be taking different paths with our lives._

And even though of course he denied it all at first, telling his friend he didn't know nothing about relationships anyway and that he was insane, that's around 4 a.m., after spending hours thinking of Amy and how brilliant and beautiful and funny and _perfect_ she is while wearing a bright smile the whole time that he realised Charles was right. Amy's more than just his friend to him.

Now he just has to discover if that's the case for her as well… or not.

"Feeling better, Charles?" he greets the other boy when they are close enough to their group of friends, a bit of gentle mockery in his voice that doesn't stay there long, though, soon replaced by the feeling of a bit of disappointment that comes with Amy removing her hand from his grip once they stop next to the others.

"Actually, yes," the other student answers with a smile at the sight of the pair. "I don't feel like spilling the truth every time I open my mouth anymore. Even if I do it anyway sometimes. Like I told the cook how bad his pie tasted earlier and I don't think he took it that well… he made me go away and prevented me from going back near the buffet all night. But it's not my fault if it wasn't good, someone had to tell him, no?"

"Yeah, and now Holt asked me to look after him the whole night so that he won't get punched in the head by someone who wouldn't like to hear what he has to say," Gina adds rolling her eyes.

She's clearly pissed she has to play babysitter with him.

"Anyway, what are your plans to make this ball Amy's 'worst date ever'?" she pauses, staring at her from head to toes, before going on. "I see you've already started by making her wear the ugliest dress she's got in her wardrobe, am I right?"

The words that come from his mouth as an answer to that go out without his own consent when he meets the Ravenclaw girl's hurtful eyes. "What? No! She's beautiful in it! WHAT?!"

It's too late, though, when he realises what he's just said.

A long, awkward silence follows. Amy is looking at him, eyes wide open, and he doesn't know what else to say to make things better while their friends are looking at them too. "I mean," he finally manages to regain some composure – and his voice. "Whatever. I have nothing planned. Everything will be improvised tonight. All bets are off about what will happen."

"Okay," Rosa takes his last sentence quite literally as she goes on with an offer. "I bet 10 Sickles you'll sneak into your room before the end of the ball and it'll _totally_ end in wild sex."

"WHAT?!" both concerned parties seem shocked this time, and Amy can actually feel her ears turn red, soon followed by her cheeks. They can't argue, because Gina takes the bet.

"Nah, not Amy," she contests. "She's not fun, never breaks any rule. 20 Sickle there's at least a kiss before midnight, I think _that_ can happen."

"WHAT?!" they repeat again in unison, incredulous but incapable of defend themselves. Jake and Amy eventually face each other, and while the Gryffindor boy watches her, trying to read what is going on through her mind at the mention of them like _that_ , all he can see in her brown orbs is pure confusion.

Which doesn't help him in knowing if she's thinking she'd like all this to happen between them.

(Because _he_ does. He truly wishes he could wake up next morning and give his Slytherin's friend her 20 Sickles – even if he definitively doesn't have 20 Sickles on him.)

"Leave them alone," Charles joins the conversation after some quiet time. "Let love's magic do its job without interfering. They're totally gonna bang tonight, though. At least I hope so."

"Okay, that's enough of that," Jake rolls his eyes, making a disgusted face that matches Amy's, and takes her with him away from their friends. They're going to blow his plans up if they go on like this with their suppositions, and he _really_ doesn't need them to do that.

"That's on him though," Gina winces while she watches them leave. "He shouldn't have called her 'beautiful' out of the blue like that. He completely gave himself away saying that."

But she soon forgets about them, and the bet she's just made.

"I'm sorry about what just happened," Jake tells his friend once they're alone and no one's around to bother them again. "They can really be brags sometimes, huh?"

"Yeah," she vaguely answers, but he notices the small shy smile on her features and her red ears.

After that conversations go back to normal, and they end up having a really great and funny time, filling the room with their loud bursts of laughter. Several times Jake tries to tell Amy how he feels about her, but after what happened with their friends and their hints, he doesn't seem to build the courage to do so. He's too afraid she doesn't feel the same way, even though she's shown herself closer than she's ever been to him the whole evening, if he has to be honest with himself…

That's why, when time for slow dancing arrives, he finally asks her, malice in his eyes and actually making a whole show about it as he knows how to do it, "you wanna dance?"

She is hesitant at first, but when he insists _hey, you can't be my date and not at least share one dance with me, that's unfair,_ I _am the one who won, remember_ she has no other choice than accepting, even though she doesn't like to dance – she never did.

Mostly because she's terrible at it, managing to walk on _both_ her partner's feet at the _same_ time, and his mockery when she does so is yet to come.

"I'm terrible at this, when can we stop?" she begs as an answer, but he only teases her more then.

" _I'm Terrible at This, When Can We Stop?_ – title of your sextape!" he can't help but laugh, and she walks on his feet again – _on purpose_ , this time – for that comment.

She really shouldn't have explained to him what a sextape was when he came across the word during one of his searches for their shared class about the Muggle's world (how he found it, she never bothered to ask, too afraid of the answer he could give her – she didn't want to know what he was trying to search in the first place) (she knows because she's Amy Santiago, so _of course_ she would have an answer to every question she's asked, nothing else) because he _truly_ enjoyed it when he understood its meaning. So much, even, that ever since it has become a running-gag for him to use towards his Ravenclaw friend on every occasion.

Because _everything_ is a good thing to use towards Amy, anyway, especially when it comes to make fun of her. But, to much of her surprise, he's back to all seriousness when she looks back at him.

There's no more trace of joke in his sparkling eyes.

"Do you want me to actually show you how to do this so you don't hurt yourself and possibly others?" he simply asks.

She's startled for a second at the proposition. "Are you saying you know how to do whatever this dance is?" She would have never guessed Jake would have a soft spot for dancing.

But apparently he does, because he tells her, gently putting one of his hands at her waist, pulling her closer, and the other in her own before meeting her eyes again. "It's called a waltz. There's only one rule: pick a partner who knows what he's doing. And, luckily for you, you have _me_ tonight."

He starts moving then, slowly, making her move with him, leading her through the dance floor. It takes her some time to adjust to his pace, but soon she finds herself understanding what she has to do with her feet and the rest of her body and her steps suddenly become smoother than they were before. He really _does_ know what he's doing, and appear to be a perfect teacher.

"That's nice," she smiles, and he doesn't bother replying anything, simply smiles back.

She's actually enjoying dancing for the first time, thanks to him. She feels good here, between his arms. She feels safe, she feels like she's right where she belongs – and that's a weird feeling.

Weird… but still good.

It's magical, this moment, and it's not only because there's real magic around them. She doesn't see it. She doesn't even see all the other couples surrounding them right now.

All she sees is _him_ – allows herself to actually _see_ him, for the first time.

Him and how his hand goes well in hers, him and how her body seems to be made for him to hold, him and how brightly he smiles at her – stares at her. Him and _how much she likes him_.

And then, all she hears are his words, these words she didn't even know she needed to hear until that moment, these words that make her heart miss a beat as he speaks them while still making her move around the room. These words that make her suddenly be glad she lost their bet.

"I like you," it escapes his mouth before he even has time to think of it, too lost in her and all she represents to him for that. "I – I really do. And I wish something could happen between us, you know… _romantic-stylez_. I tell you all this now because it's our last night together and we might not see each other for awhile and I will _really_ miss not seeing you everyday next year and I don't want to hold anything back anymore. I would have hated myself if I'd let you go without telling you how I really feel about you. So, I… I just really don't want to lose you."

She stays silent only for a second, processing what she's been told, before a big and bright smile appears on her face and she tells him, "I like you too."

(When they wake up the next morning, both Gina and Rosa are happy to see respectively that 20 and 10 Sickles are waiting for them on their bed tables with a note accompanying it:

 _Congrats, you won your bet_.)

* * *

 **I couldn't resist adding a quote from my favourite ship, Captain Swan (OUAT) during the dance, so if you've spotted it… know that I love you! :3**


	7. Sun Is Shining (And so Are You)

**This is kinda lame but idk, my own holidays with my friends inspired me this so… I wrote it when I came back a few weeks ago haha. Slightly inspired by the concept of the "Beach House" episode, applied to a Students AU.**

 **Title are some lyrics from the song _Sun Is Shining_ by Axwell ****Λ Ingrosso.**

 **If you come back here, _Guest_ , thanks a lot for your review on my latest OS! :3  
**

* * *

Amy Santiago loves her annual weekend by the beach.

She loves being able to relax for two days, buried in a book under the sun, occasionally joining her friends into the water for some games (last year Jake made her jump from the rocks that surround the place, and though it was scary as hell and she got stuck up there for more than thirty minutes, her hand crushing the young man's arm as she was looking down and she swore to never _ever_ do that again when she finally managed to jump, some part of her still found it quite exciting).

She loves partying all night long too, a major contrast to her calm activities of the day, and forget about everything, letting all the stress of the past year fade away from her whole body as alcohol takes over her and she and the persons around discover another part of hers they didn't know she had within with each new drink she takes down – each new year one more than the last.

(This year, she's about to experience 5-drink-Amy.)

She loves being surrounded by some of the closest people she has but now can't see as often as she did when they were all still in high school. She loves that it's become kind of an habit of theirs, going camping at the same place at the end of every academic year since their graduation, to be all reunited again and have the time of their lives, just as they used to do.

What she doesn't love, though, is to suddenly be taken back from the imaginary world she's been stuck into for the past hour and a half by her name being called – _yelled_ would be a more appropriate term – several times for afar, a loud and clear _"AMY!"_ echoing throughout the entire place, making her and other strangers look around in exasperation to see who's calling and why. _This better be something_ really _important_ , she swears between her teeth, because she's just been interrupted in the best part of her book so far – some clues about the fictional murder she's been reading about have just been given away for the reader to identify who did it.

(She already _knows_ who did – guessed it around page 46 – but _still_.)

It doesn't take her long to spot Jake in the distance, up on a rock above the ocean, waving at her with a huge grin appearing on his face the instant their eyes meet. His enthusiasm seems to be catching, because she soon finds herself smiling back at him, her annoyance now completely forgotten. "Amy," he calls one last time when he sees he has her whole attention. "Look at this!"

And then, with now further explanation or waiting, his gaze never leaving hers the whole time, he jumps into the water, disappearing into it for a few seconds before resurfacing proudly, his dark curls now falling flat on his face.

 _What a child_ , Amy thinks, but can't help a giggle from escaping her throat at the sight of her friend so happy with himself before going back to her reading.

She's soon interrupted again, though, when only a few minutes later Jake is back on the beach, and by her side. "So," he asks her excitedely, "what did you think of it? Wasn't it _wonderful_?!"

She sighs, putting her book away for the second time in not so long. "What did I think of what?" she asks back, not really understanding what he means with his interrogation.

"My jump, what else?! Was it good? Were you impressed?"

She wants to act exasperated, at first, that he would prevent her from enjoying her quiet moment with such a silly question, but when she looks at him through her sunglasses, and sees inside of his brown eyes that it seems really important for him to have her opinion on it, she finally answers him with a voice full of sincerity and gentleness. "It was really cool. I was quite impressed."

"Would have been cooler if you'd come with me," he acknowledges playfully, a grin lightening his features at hearing her answer.

Her heart does something strange in her chest in response, but she choses not to think too much about it. "You know I will _never_ do that again," she simply reminds him. "It's way too scary for me."

"Yeah, I remember that," he laughs as the images of his scared friend comes back to his mind. "My poor arm that hurt for two days after you destroyed it remembers as well."

She laughs along with him. "Hey, it was _you_ who insisted on making me come up there with you!" she complains anyway, just for form.

"Was wort it."

There's a moment of silence after that, and Amy takes it as the end of their conversation, as the time when she'll be able to finally go back to her book. She's wrong – _oh so_ wrong. Because then Jake starts rambling again, and it doesn't look like he wants to stop talking soon once he's begun with his babblings. And even though she's used to it and usually pretty good at ignoring him, this time she doesn't seem to be able to concentrate on what she's trying to read, with him by her side.

That's why she tries to stop him in his speech. "Jake," she calls his name to catch his attention and make him sush. "I don't know if you've noticed but I'm kinda trying to read, here."

"Oh, come on, Ames!" he complains in return. "You've got all year to read. We, on the other hand, only see each other a few times a year."

He doesn't say it, but she can read in his irresistible puppy-eyes laid on her the adding _"I missed you"_ to his words. And, to be honest, she missed him as well – _a lot_.

So she puts her book away in her bag and turns to face him fully this time. "Alright," she defeats, which make him glow even more than previously – she genuinely didn't think it was possible, given how big is smile already was. "It was time for me to take a break and put some sunscreen anyway."

It soon changes into a frowned look when he asks her with curiosity in his voice, "haven't you already put some when we arrived? Why would you bother doing it again?"

"You're not serious, are you?" she stops dead in her search of her tube of sunscreen to face him with big, scared eyes. "You have to put sunscreen every few hours if you want to be completely protected. Don't you know that? How often do _you_ put sunscreen on?!"

"I don't," he shrugs nonchalantely – he doesn't really understand why his friend would make such a big deal out of something that much irrelevant – according to him, anyway. "I mean, Charles insisted on sunscreening my back earlier when he asked me to do it for him too, but that's it. It's so boring," he complains like a child as he sees her eyes grow wider and wider at each new word he lets out, "and I was going to the water anyway, so there was no point in putting some before, it would have been useless."

"JAKE!" Amy can't retain her outraged exclamation much longer when he's finished talking. "If you go on like this, you'll get sunburnt, and you could even contract skin cancer! Is it really what you want to happen to you?! You can't _joke_ with that kind of stuff!"

She pauses, just the time for her to find her SFP 50+ sunscreen in her purse and hands it to him. "Here, take this. Put some now."

He sighs, but does as he's asked – more like _ordered_ – and takes the tube in his own hands. He knows there's no arguing with the girl when she's staring at him like she currently is.

The whole time he puts some sunscreen on all the exposed parts of his body he can reach, she watches him, making sure he does it right. Then, when he turns back to face her again, ready to spill some bitter comment towards her, the words gets stuck in his throat as he meets her gaze. She's not wearing only her severe look anymore – there's something else to it, something _new_.

Something he can't quite put a name on.

(Actually, he can put a name on it – _lust, desire?_ – but he wouldn't dream of doing so. Because it's impossible Amy Santiago would ever look at _him_ with such a look stuck in her beautiful orbs.

He's obviously hallucinating it.)

It's gone the minute she notices he's done with what she made him do, her cheeks turning into a slight shade of pink as she realises she's been staring, though.

"I –," he coughs, forcing his thoughts away from his mind. "I can't do my back alone," he hands her her sunscreening back, a shy smile on his features.

"Fine," she rolls her eyes, serious tone back on her voice as the takes back what's hers. "I'll do it. Turn around."

He complies.

Her touch isn't as smooth as he imagined – not that he spent some time imagining what her touch would be like, not at all… On the contrary, she's everything _but_ gentle when she starts massaging his back with the cold liquid on her hands. So, of course he doesn't wait to tease her about it all in a rather amused tone.

"This is not supposed to be pleasant, Jake," she reminds him. "I'm saving your life here, so stop complaining. If you'd done it sooner I wouldn't have had to do it right now."

A giggle espaces his throat at her answer, and his grin only grows wider when he can tell she's becoming a bit gentler after that, even though she would never acknowledge so. He relaxes then, closing his eyes to better enjoy this now nice contact of her hands on his skin, and he lets his mind wander away to an happy place.

He's soon taken back to reality when, as she's halfway done with it, an high-pitched screem makes her suddenly stop in what she was doing. In one same action, they both turn to see Charles, who's just come out of the ocean, now standing in the middle of the beach, looking at them with pure bliss in his orbs.

"Oh. My. _God._ I knew it!" he makes a weird move with his arms, then adds to explain himself in front of the non-understanding glare the two students are giving him, "I knew something was going on between you two guys, some sexual attraction or whatever. And now I have the proof. Because putting sunscreen on a man's back?! That's the most erotic thing in the world! Well, the second best," he quickly corrects, "after shampooing a person's hair, of course."

Amy's reaction is yet to come. "WHAT?!" she lets the word slip without even thinking it.

"Erotic, Amy," Jake only jokes back, because he's too startled to think of anything else right now. "That means something sexy, you know, something that _turns you on_."

A strange feeling takes over him as he tells her that, and he senses his cheeks turn red.

"Yeah, Amy," Charles tops the boy's definition before he can think about what all that means. "Don't you really know what that means?!"

" _Of course_ I know what 'erotic' means, I'm not dumb," the girl answers, quite exasperated. "My 'what' was just a 'what the hell are you saying, this is absolutely not erotic _at all'_ ," she insists on the last words, "kind of 'what'! As I was just telling Jake, I'm only saving his ass by not letting him die of skin cancer – nothing more than that!"

"Yeah, Charles," Jake finally becomes serious again, and allies with Amy on her contestation. "Nothing's happening here. Calm down, buddy."

"If you say so," the other one simply shrugs as an answer, then goes back to lay on his own towel.

His short interruption suddenly makes everything awkward between the two students for a few minutes – they remain quiet as Amy quickly finishes sunscreening her friend's back, all smoothness again forgotten. Jake kind of misses her gentle touch, but doesn't dare telling her so, joking or not. Then once she's done with it, she regains her place, the farther away she can from him, and throws herself back into her book while the boy loses himself in his thoughts of how Charles broke the moment they were having. Hopefully, after some time spent like this, one of their shared friends, Terry, comes and asks them if they want to take part of a game of cards with the others, making them all gather together in a circle.

Thanks to that interlude, and because they're both great competitors, it doesn't take long for the two brunettes to forget about everything that happened, and soon everything goes back to normal between them, laughing and teasing each other at every occasion they can. They soon became inseparable again, even volunteering to make dinner together (which Charles ended up supervising because of how bad cooks everyone knew they were, but also because he just wanted an excuse to spend some time with the both of them, spying on them and how close they were becoming).

It's then no surprise that, in the middle of the night, while the others are partying a bit farther away in their camping by the ocean, Jake and Amy find themselves back to the beach, a bit drunk and lying on the sand a few centimeters from each other, watching the stars above and giggling while doing so. Amy's already at her fourth drink – Jake hasn't counted his, only feels he's tipsy.

"Look," the girl exclaims after some quiet time. "These clouds, right there," she points towards somewhere in the sky with her finger, "it looks like two people having sex, don't you think?"

That's who 4-drink-Amy is: a bit of a perv. All of her friends were quite shocked, to be honest, when they discovered she had that in her the year before. But now her comment only makes Jake laugh as he tries to find the clouds she's talking about, following her lead. They're soon cut in their inspection of the sky though, by someone finally coming their way.

"Girl," Gina's voice break the now recovered silence, facing Amy and putting a full glass in one of her hands. "You've been there for some time now, don't forget to keep hydrated! And come back to me when 5-drink-Amy takes over, I wanna know who she is."

Gina has made her personal duty to make her friend drink that night. She desperatly needs to see who 5-drink-Amy will be. It's truly one of her highlighs of the weekend. That's why she stays with them until she's sure Amy's taken down the entire glass, then leaves as quickly as she appeared.

Quiet soon falls back on the two remaining students. That is, until the alcohol does its effect to the girl's body, and she suddenly feels a weird rush of confidence starting to go down her spine. As she rapidly steals a glance towards Jake, all thoughts that crossed her mind during the day – because of what he said, what he did, what Charles told them –, during the night, comes back, and she finally finds the guts to say what has been stuck in her throat for the past twenty minutes looking at the stars (what has been stuck in her throat for the past few years by his side).

"So," she starts, not really thinking before speaking anymore, "when does the moment when you finally kiss me come?"

Jake turns to look at her too, and finds her determined eyes glowing onto him in the dark of the night. His own orbs are wide-open, completely taken aback by her words. "What?" is all he manages to let out his mouth, way too surprised to react otherwise.

"Oh, come on," Amy shrugs, not a least disconcerted. "Don't tell me you took me here, just the two of us, simply to watch the stars. It's like… super romantic. Even more so after what happened here too this afternoon. So I suppose you did it because you like me, and there would come a moment when you try to kiss me. If you're not doing it because you think I will pull back, let me tell you: I won't. Because, guess what, I like you too."

That's way too much to handle in one speech for the boy. True, he's taken her to the beach because he wanted to spend some time alone with her. True, he likes her – have been for quite some time now, to be honest. But knowing she likes him too… that's a whole new information. Thinking that she wouldn't be against him kissing her as well. He doesn't want to do that, though.

Well, of course he does, but not right now, not when she's drunk and it could be seen as him taking advandage of her. Taking advantage of this 5-drink-Amy, this weirdly confident Amy, this Amy that isn't the _real_ one, the one he got obsessed with when they were still in high school and he took her to prom after winning a bet they've made throughout their whole last year and hadn't been able to let go of his mind ever since, even though they weren't seeing each other as much as they did before.

That's why, when he sees her coming closer to him, ready to take the step _he_ wasn't willing to take first, he pushes her as gently as he can, and tells her in a rush of panic, "no! Not like this!"

She doesn't seem to understand what he means, because her eyes are suddenly filled with sadness, and without another word she leaves him alone on the beach as she joins the others. He tries to call her name, wants to make things clear between them, but she never looks back.

"Hey, slow down, girl!" Gina calls her name when she spots her filling herself another glass, that she takes down in one gulp to forget what happened, how she's been rejected by the guy she likes, and thought who liked her back. "You didn't even let me see who 5-drink-Amy is!"

Amy doesn't care. She doesn't like 5-drink-Amy anyway, because she makes her say things she'll obviously regret the day after. But she hates 6-drink-Amy even more.

6-drink-Amy is sad, just sad. Not what she needs right now, then. So she decides to simply go back to her tent and try to find some sleep as she feels like everything is turning around her and tears fall down her cheeks, never stopping. She feels alone, _oh so_ alone right now.

It's in that state of pure loneliness that she finally falls asleep. She hears one last thing before drifting off, though, from a voice she knows all too well, full of concern, "where's Amy?!"

"She said she was tired, she's gone to sleep," someone answers.

She hears his sigh, but doesn't move. He spends the rest of his night drowing his sorrow in another shot of tequila. No doubt then that when he wakes up the next day, Jake feels a huge headache take over. He still remembers what happened the night before, though. And now that he's sobbered a little, he wants to make it up to Amy, and have a real conversation with her.

He wants to let her know about his _true_ feelings towards her.

Everything's quiet when he goes out of the tent he's sharing with Charles for the weekend – all of his friends are still asleep. He knows the brunette isn't, though. She always wakes up early.

And he has a pretty good idea of where she must be waiting for the other students to wake up too. He doesn't waste any second and goes straight to the beach. As expected he finds her at the exact same spot they were the night before, her back against a tree, reading her book. There's not a lot of people here yet, hopefully – it's quiet then.

He joins her without making any noise, until he's finally by her side. "I knew I'd find you here."

She looks up, and seems surprised to see him here at first. A bit ashamed, too, as she tries to smile to him but fails at covering her embarrassment. So, for a moment, they simply sit together without speaking, until they finally find the guts to take the floor at the exact same time.

"I'm sorry about tonight," they spill it out at once.

That makes them laugh, to be such in sync, and it takes away a few of the tension between them as well. " _I'm Sorry about Tonight_ – title of your sextape," Jake can't help his comment as he attempts to lighten the air before getting all serious again. "I mean… I'm really sorry about what happened last night, that I hurt you with my words. But I think you didn't understand me pushing you away in the right way."

She stares at him with a startled look in her eyes, and wants to say something in return, but he stops her before she has the chance. "When I said 'not like that', I meant I didn't want our first kiss to happen like this, with you so drunk that you didn't think about what you were saying anymore. I didn't want you to regret it today. I didn't mean that I didn't like you. Because I like you, I really do. I have for some time now, but I didn't think you felt the same way, so…"

She cuts him, all happy smiles back on her face at the declaration, "I like you too."

This time, it's him who goes to her to put an end to the few inches that seperate their bodies.

She doesn't pull back – on the contrary, she leans in.

And kisses him back.

* * *

 **Just so you know, if you're interested, I'm currently writing a multichapters fic that I post only on AO3 under the same pen name as here (Kufikiria), it's called _Say You'll Remember Me_ if you wanna take a look at it!**


	8. When the Night Falls Down

**Based in episode 2x12, in which 6-drink-Amy isn't only sad… but she's also very talkative about her feelings. Thing is, she doesn't remember it the day after – and maybe it's for the best. According to Jake, anyway.**

 **I've rewatched the ep not so long ago, and spotted Amy sleeping on the couch at the end (when everyone else is playing the "Real Ray or Fake Ray" game) which inspired me this little thing that I came to finally write. Not my best but I'm posting it anyway haha!  
**

* * *

 **When the Night Falls Down, the Truth Gets Out**

It's late in the night (or very early in the morning, depending on the perspective), and almost everyone from the squad has already left the party to join their assigned bedroom now. Only Jake and Gina are still there, quietly enjoying one last beer while recollecting memories of their childhood together, of a time when they were still young, going to different parties, with different people.

They're not completely alone, though – Amy is there too, if only physically. She indeed fell asleep on the couch soon after throwing up, with Gina by her side, pulling her hair back and taking great care of the sad and lonely 6-drink-Amy. Taking great care of her _friend_.

She hasn't moved one bit since, and won't if no one comes and wakes her up themselves for sure.

Something the red-headed woman ends up proposing with a yawn once her beer is emptied – while she really likes Jake's company, she's starting to feel very tired, and doesn't even try to hide it anymore. "Shouldn't we wake her up?" she asks as she stands up from the spot she's occupied for awhile now, stretches out, then goes to the other woman's side where she stops to stare intently at her a few seconds, before poking at her shoulder.

"Ames?" she calls her name, then.

She doesn't react.

"No need to disturb her," Jake stops Holt's assistant before she can start shaking her whole upper body in an attempt to make her open her eyes. "I'll carry her to bed. Go ahead, you've done enough for her already."

He doesn't have to tell her twice – Gina's out of the room as soon as he finishes his sentence, waving him goodnight, relieved that she won't have to deal with sad, lonely-Amy again. She loves her, she really does, but having to deal with her feelings right now would have been too much when all she wants is to lay down in her bed. So Jake soon finds himself alone in the room with his partner.

Everything is silent around them as he quietly watches her sleep for a few seconds. She seems way more peaceful than she was earlier, when she came back to the basement, whining that _6-drink-Amy was so alone_.

He would lie if he'd say that it didn't break his heart to hear her say that, and see her like this. She was his friend, after all – one of his best friends, even –, but before he could react in any way, his boss discovered their fraud, and he found himself having to deal with other problems before being able to come to her and make sure she was okay. And then, once he came back, she was already deep in her sleep.

When he finally lifts her in his arms, gently, carefully, ready to take her upstairs so that she can be more at ease than here on this couch, he's startled a moment about how light she is, but that thought doesn't linger long in his mind, soon replaced by the new surprise of her unconsciously putting her arms around his neck and huddling to his side, the closer she can, her head pressing on his chest.

He doesn't leave right away – tries to find his balance first – then takes a first step towards the stairs to the door. "Jake…" he hears her call his name, so low he almost doesn't catch it, and that makes him stop in his tracks.

She doesn't add anything though, nor does she make a move, so he continues his course to her room, concentrating on not disturbing her too much so that she won't wake up entirely. Once there, he slowly lays her down on her bed, takes off her slippers, then manages to put the covers over her body without making her move too much – he knows she'll be freezing when waking up in the morning otherwise. After that, he begins making his way towards the exit.

"Jake," he hears her call again, more audible this time, and he recognises some tremors in her shaky voice. "Jake, don't leave me, please…" she pleads, and it seems like her breaths are becoming shorter with every new word she lets out.

He's back to her side in a second, worry rushing through his veins. Despite the darkness surrounding them, he notices that she's now opened her eyes. "Ames?" he asks. "Are you alright? Do you need anything?"

"Don't leave me, please…" she simply repeats, again and again, gripping his hand in hers without any warning. The gesture startles him, but less than the fact that she's trembling – he can feel it through her intertwined fingers on his wrist. That's how he understands, when he looks at her again and sees that she's still struggling breathing correctly, that she's on the verge of having a panic attack. 6-drink-Amy must be really, truly depressed.

"I'm not going anywhere," he tries to soothe her, caressing her palm with his thumb. "I promise."

It seems to work for awhile, as she manages to calm down a bit while staring at him, a small smile working its way on her features. It soon disappears though, as sad thoughts come back to disturb her mind, and she can feel tears starting to prickle her eyes as she can't manage to chase them away.

"I don't wanna end up alone…" she shamelessly confesses.

It hits him, then. 6-drink-Amy, sad, desperate-Amy, is sad because of her recent breakup. At least, that's what Jake thinks. And he suddenly feels bad, so bad for not having seen that coming earlier, for having thought she handled her breakup with Teddy well when apprently it was play-pretend all this time. How could have he guessed, though? She was the one who broke things up with him, and already more than a month passed since the day of their disaster of a road trip.

Why would she feel saddened by it now, then? Does she regret her decision? No, that's impossible. What, then? The fact that it didn't end the way she wanted to, because _he_ broke her plans?

That could be a thing. Amy hates it when things don't go according to her plans – it stresses her out deeply. But still, having broken up with one guy doesn't mean she won't find anyone in the future anymore. Especially _her_ , who's beautiful and smart and funny and… and literally one of the best person he's had the chance to meet in his whole life.

He doesn't put the words exactly like that when he talks again to answer her, but he makes sure she knows how great of a person she is. "You'll find someone worthy of you soon, I'm sure, don't worry about that," he tells her. "You have plenty of qualities, any intelligent person could see that and want to have you in their lives."

"But what if… what if I already found that person, but I realised it too late, and now it's over because they're with someone else – someone they truly love?"

 _I think it's because she liked you back,_ Teddy's voice echoes in his mind at hearing this while he relives the moment in his head.

 _Did you?_

 _Maybe. Yes._

"What do you mean?" he only asks, disturbed by her confession.

"I still like you, Jake. But don't worry – I know you're with Sophia, and things are great between you two, and I'm really happy for you. She's great. I missed my chance, that's all. I need to learn to live with that."

"Ames…" he doesn't know what to say in return. He's too aware of what she's feeling right now, since he had to deal with the same thing some months ago. She's hurt, and for once he can't do anything about it. Even worse – he's the one who's hurting her, even though he doesn't mean to, of course. And so he's hurt too.

The same weird feeling he felt when he learned that she, too, had feelings for him at the inn over a month ago takes possession of his chest, but just like back then, he chooses not to think about it too much.

"I'm sorry I'm bothering you with that," she lowers her gaze, now unable to look him in the eye. She's still so full of sadness, he wants to take her in his arms, and tell her that everything is going to be okay.

Which he does, and she holds on to him tight, never wanting to let go.

" _I_ am sorry…" he whispers to her ear.

They stay like this for awhile, wrapped up in each other, hearts beating in usion, until Amy is the one who breaks contact. She finally manages to stare at Jake then, tears falling down her cheeks as she lets her hand wander over his cheek and his own are still at her waist. He wants to say something, anything that could cheer her up but he's completely wordless for once.

"I'm… tired," the woman detective finally breaks the silence, and even though Jake is reluctant about leaving her alone in this state, still under the influence of this 6-drink-Amy, he can read in her gaze that's what she needs right now. He starts leaving then, but turns one last time before passing the door. "You know where I am, if you need anything."

She nods, and turns her back to him, putting herself further into the covers. He stays here a few seconds still, watching her, before regaining his own room for good. He sighs when he lets himself fall onto the bed, and watches the ceiling as one sentence doesn't seem to leave his mind.

 _I still like you, Jake._

But then he takes his phone he's left here the whole evening to look at the time and sees he received a new text message. He opens it, and a small smile immediately appears on his face when he sees who sent it, and reads it.

 _Hey babe. I hope you're having fun at your party. Thinking of you. xx_

He puts his previous thoughts the farther away from his mind, suddenly feeling somehow guilty. He's in a relationship with Sophia – a really, really good relationship. He _loves_ her. Not Amy. He just feels bad for his friend… nothing more.

That's what he tells himself as he falls asleep anyway.

When he wakes up the next morning, and goes down to the kitchen to have breakfast with his squad, Jake is afraid of how things will go with Amy after the confessions she made him the night before while she was still drunk – he hopes it won't be too awkward between them, now that they finally managed to go back to the relationship they had before this whole "I like you" situation.

He soon realises she completely forgot about everything, though (or, if she hasn't, she's pretty good at hiding it) because he finds her in a deep conversation with Gina, who's currently telling her everything she couldn't seem to remember about the party, half-amused and half-ashamed about it all, especially in front of her Captain who's listening to them. When she seems him, she simply greets him with a huge smile, not seeming a bit disturbed.

"Hey, Gina told me you put me to bed yesterday so that I wouldn't have to stay downstairs, thanks for that," she tells him when he sits in front of her.

The smile he gives her back isn't as big as hers, but it's full of some kind of relief, and just as true. "Anytime," he simply answers, before putting his attention back on his meal.

(It's only one year after, when they're back to one of those weekends of theirs, as a couple this time, that he tells her the truth about what happened that night.

"Yeah," she simply answers. "I kinda remembered too. And I suppose you were right: I did find someone worthy of me after all," she jokes as she presses a bit more against his side as they are the only two persons left on the couch, the other ones already far gone to sleep, and she gently puts her lips on his in a loving kiss.)


	9. The (Marital) Bet

**Thank you _Guest(s?)_ for your reviews, and explanations about how it goes for visiting in prison – even though thanks to the season 5 stills I also got a pretty good view of how it'll be in the series :) It's too late to change anything now though but I'll know for later!**

 **Anyway, here's a little Peraltiago OS I was inspired to write after seeing a Tumblr post writing "Amy Peralta", because why shouldn't it be "Jake Santiago"? ;)**

* * *

"Ready to lose, Mr. S _antiago_?"

As she gears up for her shooting test, gun in her hand, sunglasses on her nose and noise-cancelling headphones ready to be put on her ears, Amy turns to her partner, giving him a challenging look.

"You wish, Mrs. _Peralta_ ," he replies in the same tone, insisting just like she did on the last name.

Everything started a few weeks ago, soon after he popped the question.

( _Amy Santiago, you've made me the happiest man on Earth. Will you marry me?_

 _Yes. A thousand times yes._ )

Only a few hours after that, actually, as they were in their apartment, curled up in bed in the afterglow of what had been the proper celebration of their recent engagment. Amy was looking at the beautiful ring Jake had put on her finger that same evening, her heart aching with happiness in her chest and a huge smile never leaving her features, the same her _fiancé_ was wearing as he was watching her, his dark eyes shining with true love.

"So…" he broke the silence after awhile spent like that. "What do you feel about becoming Mrs. Peralta soon?" he asked what was only supposed to be an innocent and heartfelt interrogation at first.

(What, he didn't know yet, would turn into an endless – but friendly, _always_ friendly – fight between them.)

It startled Amy, though, who looked up to meet his eyes, brows frowned in confusion. "Mrs. Peralta?" she repeated his last words. "Why should _I_ take _your_ name? You could take mine as well, y'know. It's not 1950 anymore – we can actually _chose_ which of our two names we'd like to keep."

He knew her enough to understand quite immediately, from the way she was reacting, that she wasn't joking, and was really taking this conversation very seriously.

"I know," he told her then, gently caressing her arm as he spoke, and offering her a loving smile. "But I thought that since you have seven brothers to keep your name alive, and I'm an only child… it would be only fair that we take my name. Can you imagine me having been the last of the Peraltas if I become a Santiago?! It would be such a shame."

It made her laugh (and roll her eyes a little, too), his over-dramatic way of stating the thing, and he laughed along with her. "Actually, two of them took their partner's name already," she argued, though. "And three of them still aren't married, so I can't know for sure if they'll keep our name or not."

"That still means two of them will keep it, right?"

"Yeah, but still. It's something we really need to think about," she was back to being serious about the topic again.

He agreed with her, obviously, if that was what she wanted. Even if, to be honest, as long as he would spend the rest of his life with her, it didn't really matter how they'd be called. He could even take the silliest name on Earth, if that meant he would be married to this incredible woman. He just didn't want to talk about it right now – had other plans in mind, as he just wanted to enjoy tonight without arguing.

"We have plenty of time to do it later, it's not like we're getting married tomorrow," he pulled her closer to his chest, and gently kissed her as an answer. "For now… let's just enjoy our first night as fiancés."

His kiss became more passionate then as his hand found its way to her waist, and she felt a bit bad about making such a big deal out of a such a simple and sweet question. "Sorry," she managed to say between to kisses, preventing him from kissing her once more with her palm on his chest so that she could go on with her explanation.

She stared at him a second, with a smile full of love for the man in front of her upon her face, then went on, caressing his cheek with the tip of her fingers. "To answer your initial question, being your future wife makes me feel like the happiest and luckiest woman on Earth. I love you more than anyone in the world."

"And I love you more than anyone in the world," he replied before kissing her again, and again, and _again_ …

The topic came back on the table several times after that night, and it soon seemed like none of them was willing to come to an agreement – not because they didn't want to take the other's last name, but more because it soon went from a serious conversation to a real competition between the two – to the point that they got the whole squad involved in the affair to help them prove their point that _their_ name was the best one.

It didn't help that much, though. When Gina and Charles undoubtedly posted themselves on Jake's side, Rosa and Terry strongly paired with Amy. Holt, him, refused to take part of this in any way.

(As for Hitchcock and Scully, they didn't even seem to understand the couple was getting married, even though they were there when the proposal was made. No need to try and seek their opinion on the matter, then.)

That put them in a dead-end. Only until the same person who didn't want to get involved in their silly argument gave them the solution one day, at the end of their morning briefing.

"I've just received our slots for the annual renewal of our shooting certification," their Captain informed his squad of the procedure. "We're going next Tuesday at 2."

He just had time to announce the news that the same idea seemed to come across both of the newly fiancés' minds as they turned to face each other in a perfectly synced move. "Y'know what that means?!" Jake asked, and Amy nodded in response, staring intently at him, never leaving his gaze.

"Yeah," she answered with conviction. "It's time for a new bet."

"Best shooter gets to keep his name," they agreed in a same voice.

They were about to shake hands when a voice cut them in their shared moment. "Detectives, this is not a competition," their boss reprimanded them. "I need you to take that test seriously."

"All due respect, Captain," the male brunette turned back to look at him, an amused grin on his face. "I couldn't take this test more seriously than I am now. The future of the Peralta name is at stakes, after all."

Holt didn't reply anything to that, too exasperated to think about something else to say. He only let out one word in a sigh, then.

"Dismiss."

Which takes us to that same Tuesday afternoon, with Amy now ready to shoot her bullets, her gun pointed at the target a few meters away from her. She quickly glances one last time at Jake before finally concentrate fully, and pull the trigger once, then several times – they have ten shoots to make in total. Everything's over in just a few seconds.

"Not bad," her fiancé acknowledges when she takes off her noise-cancelling headphones and they both look at the target, now covered with holes on its head and heart.

"Not bad?! I think you mean it's a perfect shot," the woman brags as she puts her gun back in its holster, beaming widely.

"Nah. _This_ is a perfect shot," he replies in challenge, and she watches him as he takes place in front of his own target, gets ready just as she did before, and… puts his ten bullets in the silhouette's skull. "What do you say now, huh, Mrs. Peralta?" he teases her when he's finished, wagging his eyebrow, taking his glasses off his nose.

Amy isn't intimidated by it. "I say it's a tight," she assures. "I believe we're back to square one."

"What? No! We can't judge that by ourselves, it's unfair. We need to ask the others," Jake complains, then jockingly adds, "I'm sure they'll agree my shoot was the coolest."

But no one wants to take part of their competition anymore – except for Charles, who's way too excited since the two got engaged and thus wants to get involved in everything related to it, but since he's not really objective when it comes to Jake, they decide his vote doesn't count if he's the only one giving his opinion.

They find themselves debating alone about the rightful winner for some time then, until a voice cuts them in the middle of their silly argument. "What are you guys fighting about?" Hitchcock, who was passing by with Scully, asks. They stop in their chatting, and Jake is the one to answer.

"We're trying to know who made the best shoot this afternoon so that the winner gets to keep his name at our wedding."

"You guys are getting married? Congrats!" the older detective answers, and the couple only sighs back in desperation. It's been weeks since the proposal now, and the topic was always coming back one way or another at the precinct. So they really can't understand how he's still not aware of that pretty important fact.

They don't have time to reply with anything though, since Scully finally talks after remaining silent until now, shrugging as if he's making a really obvious statement. "Why aren't you taking both your names?"

It startles them, this question, because it's actually quite a clever and interesting comment he's making, for once, indeed. A good compromise. Something they didn't even think about before…

"Yeah… why not?" Amy is the first one to answer after considering it for awhile. She turns to her fiancé to seek his own opinion with a smile on her face. "I mean, it's a bit long, for sure, but I can totally see myself as Amy Santiago-Peralta. It sounds quite good."

"Santiago-Peralta?!" the other one doesn't wait to react, and repeat her statement. "I believe you meant _Peralta-Santiago_."

"Why should your name come before mine?"

"Because 'P' is before 'S' in alphabetical order!" Jake pitifully tries to argue.

It actually makes his partner laugh, and in other times she would have agreed with him on that point, but she soon becomes all serious again, and fights back. It appears they're stuck in an impasse again (even though deep down, all of this doesn't really matter, is just their way of having fun – as long as they're together, they'll be happy with whatever they chose to do in the end, and they both know that).

But for now, it's just a chance the wedding isn't planned before a few months ahead.


	10. I'm Coming Home

**Post-5x02. Jake's first morning after he came back from prison.**

 **(Title is from _Calls Me Home_ by Shannon LaBrie.)**

* * *

 **I'm Coming Home (From All the Places I Have Been)**

It's not the usual music of the first of her three alarm clocks that wakes Amy up that morning, but the actual voice of someone singing coming from somewhere inside her apartment.

She's startled at first, when she hears it, still kind of stuck in that place between awake and sleep, and even a little worried – _who the hell broke into her place?!_ – but then she turns her head, and actually sees the crumpled sheets on Jake's side of the bed, and that's when she remembers as she finally emerges completely from her sleeping state.

She's dreamt of it so many times the past few months – of him being back _here_ , with _her_ – that it now feels a bit surreal, that this is the truth. That _he_ is indeed in their apartment, doing whatever he is doing presently, only a few meters separating them from one another.

For a moment she doesn't move, laying in the dark of the room with her eyes wide open staring at the ceiling, a smile growing wider and wider with each new second passing during which she just listens to his cover of a Taylor Swift song (or what she thinks she recognises as a Taylor Swift song – from where she is, she can't quite figure out the words nor the melody) until realisation suddenly hits her, and her attitude immediately changes from relaxed to completely worried.

 _She_ is the one who's always the first to be up in the mornings, and Jake doesn't even have to go to work today – not yet. Which means he doesn't _have_ to wake up early either.

And she knows him all too well to be certain that if he doesn't have to, he _won't_ , in any case.

Fears starts coursing through her veins, then, as she holds her hand to grab her phone where it has been put on the nightstand the previous night. _Please, please, please, don't tell me I'm late…_ she silently prays as she presses the opening button, her fingers trembling slightly, and stares at her locked screen (a selfie of Jake and her making silly faces at the camera), letting out a sigh she's been holding when she finally reads the time written in big, white letters on top of them:

 _6:43am._ This means she still has about half an hour before her first alarm even goes off.

All this soothes her for a few seconds only, because soon enough she starts wondering again – why on earth would her boyfriend be up before her? It wasn't really like him to do so.

And even though it was, she kind of expected to wake up in his arms, to be quite honest, after all these nights spent on her own. She missed his presence next to her.

Since she knows her questions won't be answered by her staying in bed, she decides it's time for her to leave the room as well, and join him to see for herself what he's doing. As soon as she's out of the heat of the covers surrounding her body, though, she feels a breeze of cold air on her skin, and doesn't wait any more second to take Jake's NYPD hoodie and it her on, just as she's got used to do for the past few months.

Only then does she walk towards where the sound of his voice is coming from, and stops when she finally notices him in the kitchen, his back in front of her, apparently busy with cooking something (some meal that smells pretty good, she can tell from the smell that is currently filling the whole place) while dancing and singing in rhythm.

This simple sight is all it takes to warm her fully – to watch him as he's back where he belongs, and that he seems really happy about it too.

It doesn't seem like he heard her coming, so she stays where she's standing, enjoying the view he's offering her, the grin on her face never leaving her as a tender feeling takes hold of her heart.

Though she isn't the one who's been away during this whole time, Amy still feels like she's _finally_ home again. Truly, completely home. There's nothing – no one – missing anymore.

It's crazy, how someone can become such a huge part of your everyday life that quickly, without you realising it at first, but so much that you don't seem to remember how you were able to live before they came into your existence when you have to be apart. She's been living alone in this apartment way longer than he's been here with her, and yet she couldn't bear not having him in it with her anymore when he had to leave. It didn't feel right, then – it was way too calm, too _empty_.

As Jake is finally coming to the last verse of his song, he starts turning around, with a pan in his hand, and throws the pancake he's been cooking in the air, letting the words go out of his mouth as he nimbly catches the pancake back before it falls onto the floor:

 _Marry me Juliet, you'll never have to be alone, I love you and that's –…_

"Ames!" he exclaims as he suddenly stops in his tracks when he eventually spots her, and his eyes meet hers. A big smile, similar to Amy's own grin, comes lighting his face as he goes on, "I didn't know you were up already. I was going to bring you breakfast in bed, so you're kind of ruining my romantic move, here. Would you mind going back to bed and pretend like nothing happened?"

He pouts, feigning his disappointment in her, and the other detective can't help but laugh in return to this, which immediately makes him lose it as well. They laugh so much their chests start hurting, but in a good way, for the first time in what seemed like forever to them. They're simply happy – to be here, to be together, and still so madly in love with each other despite everything.

"What's the occasion?" Amy asks when she's calmed down a bit, and has gone closer to him, now encircling his waist with her arms, and looking up at him with pure bliss in her eyes.

"Because I love you," he only shrugs, and she swears her heart melted entirely.

"I love you too," she answers, then kisses him slowly, so tenderly.

"And because I wanted to thank you for all of what you've done for me while I was in jail," he adds when they part, in a very serious tone this time.

"I told you I would never stop fighting for you," she repeats the words she's told him before he was first found guilty at his trial, and she means every word of it.

He smiles, but doesn't say anything back, simply stares at her with pure love in his eyes as he just wants to enjoy this moment they're having now, the two of them back _home_ together.

(He wouldn't tell her right now, but this song he was so happily singing, he didn't started singing it by accident – he clearly chose it to remind himself that soon, he would ask her _the_ question…

 _Marry me, Amy, you'll never have to be alone (again), I love you and that's all I really know._ )


	11. Desk Duty

**Post-5x03. Jake takes advantage of his time assigned to desk duty to make some research…**

* * *

It's not exactly something that occurs to Jake's mind all of a sudden, as he's staring blankly at his computer screen, in search of a new occupation after spending the last twenty minutes taking silly quizzes about literally everything and anything on the Internet.

On the contrary, it's something he actually _thought_ about a lot during the past few months – a thought that prevented him from going crazy, in his hell of a jail.

 _When I'm home,_ he'd whisper under his breath, a promise to be heard only by himself and the picture of Amy hanging on the wall by his bed he was tenderly skimming in the dark of another sleepless night, _I'm gonna ask you to marry me._

All he could do was dream about it back then, but now that he's really out of prison… he can actually start planning it.

It's a good thing he decided to stay assigned to his desk duty for a little more while then, because it leaves him some time alone in the bullpen, just like he is right now, with all of his colleagues out on the field. Most of them are not supposed to come back to the precinct soon, from what Amy texted him earlier, giving him updates on her case as she was making sure he's doing well.

He gives a quick glance at the empty desk right in front of his own, unable to hide his smile as he thinks about who it belongs to, this extraordinary woman who, he hopes so, will soon become his wife, then finally puts his attention back to his computer.

He types things in the search bar, starting with the most important feature of a perfect proposal –

 _Engagement rings._

A lot of different websites and pictures suddenly appear on his screen after he pressed the 'Enter' button of his keyboard, and he's a bit overwhelmed at first, not exactly knowing where to begin, but then he's quickly drawn into the thing as he carefully looks at all the rings that are presented to him on his screen, dreaming about which one would look best on his girlfriend's finger.

He has to admit, this is way more entertaining than learning which onion he is.

(Almost more entertaining than catching bad guys, too, because of all it implies for the future – _their_ future together, with Amy.)

 _So_ entertaining, even, that he doesn't hear the doors of the elevator open behind him as he's still lost in his search of wedding-related things, nor does he notice steps coming towards him right away either.

"Hey babe," the cheerful greeting of his girlfriend is finally what startles him out of his thoughts of imagining her joining him on the altar, her arm hooked with her father's, dressed in a wonderful wedding gown that suits her perfectly, and never letting go of his eyes as she walks towards him, excitement coursing through both their veins. "What are you doing?"

All it takes him is one second to close his browser before she can take a peek at what is on his screen, and he turns to face her, an exaggerated grin lighting his features.

(Not so much exaggerated, though – she _does_ make him smile brighter than anyone else.)

"Nothing!" he quickly tells her, trying to sound as innocent as possible. "Absolutely _nothing_. I was just taking another quiz. Did you know that of all the Disney princes, I'm apparently Flynn Rider?"

She studies him for a bit, not really buying his excuse, but doesn't reply with anything anyway. She simply chooses to smile back, and returns to her desk without further questioning while Jake pretends like he's got some work to do.

But soon, Amy finds herself busy with paperwork, not paying attention to him anymore, so he turns his gaze from his computer screen and back in her direction.

A warm feeling takes over his heart as he stares at the love of his life, hopefully soon-to-be _wife_. He already can't wait for the day he's going to propose to her at the top of their rooftop to come.

That's a good thing he's stuck in desk duty now. Because he'll have plenty of time to organise it all and make it as great as _she_ is.


	12. For the Rest of their Lives

**5x04. Amy's thoughts during The Proposal.**

* * *

As she's waiting for her boyfriend to enter the evidence lockup (she knows him _that_ well, there's not a doubt in her mind he'll be here in a few seconds), Amy Santiago is sure she's going to win the heist again this year.

She knows the belt is in one of the boxes here, and she even knows which one already – first thing she noticed when she came in there was the one that _clearly_ didn't match the others in one of the shelving units in front of her.

It's almost strange, how easy it is. Jake is supposed to know her, and he _should_ know she would have noticed the change immediately. She doesn't think too much about it, though - she's too excited by the fact she's winning another year to truly linger on that, especially when her boyfriend eventually appears, and she soon finds herself busy with telling him how predictable he's become to her.

(If she'd known he spent six months planning this whole thing without her never ever noticing, not even once. And that it all worked out in the end because he _did_ know her perfectly, after all, and thus knew about her every future moves and ways of analysing things.)

But then when she finally takes out the belt, and brags about it to his face, and he doesn't seem devastated by his loss, like she thought he would be (like he _should_ be), even _smiling_ at her when he tells her to take a better look at the prize, her first instinct skyrocks to her mind.

There's something off here.

A rush of panic courses through her veins when she obliges, until she starts reading _it_ , golden letters coming back to her face, and her voice stops at the last words in pure disbelief.

 _Amy Santiago,_ the inscription of the cummerbund writes, _will you marry me?_

She's dreamt of it – this particular moment, this particular _question_ – in the past. Quite a bunch of times, to be honest.

She's dreamt of it one Spring morning, a few months ago, when she heard Jake humming Taylor Swift's _Love Story_ in the shower, and she suddenly found herself laying in bed, wishing she was this Juliet he was currently singing he wanted to marry.

She's dreamt of it, along with a future together that involved _kids_ , when they looked after Terry's adorable twin daughters, and actually enjoyed it more than they ever thought the would.

She's dreamt of it through his trial, when he told her about trips they should take when he's found innocent, and she dreamt of him asking her the cliché-way in Paris, at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

She's dreamt of it while falling asleep to the sound of his voice repeating how much he missed her and how much he cared about her through the phone, alone in her too-big of a bed without him in it too, her eyelids closed hard in an attempt to imagine him by her side, and a silent, lonely tear falling down her cheek.

She's dreamt of it in the most random moments – when he was looking at her with pure bliss in his eyes, when they were joking around, having fun like they often did, when they were simply working on a case together, when they forgave each over after a fight…

Actually, she's dreamt of it so many times, she can't quite remember all of them.

That's why her first reaction is to freak out when she sees him handing her the little box – she's afraid this one is still just that. Another _dream_.

But this… this _is_ real, after all – he's _really_ there, kneeling in front of her, talking about all the reasons why he loves her, and wants to spend the rest of his life with her, and then…

"Amy Santiago, will you marry me?"

He says the words himself, and she only has to take a quick look at his face to know that he means it with his whole heart. That he _truly_ wants her to become his wife.

And it's better than all the times she has imagined it.

There's no doubt in her voice when she answers then, only tremors of happy cries menacing to fall down her cheeks any second now.

"Jake Peralta, I will marry you."

The rest happens in a blink, too overwhelmed by her feelings to really realise what's happening to her (to them – to their relationship), her heart racing fast in her chest as she watches Jake put the wonderful ring he's chosen on her finger, and she kisses him, holds on to him, and tells him how much _she_ loves him too.

She may not have won the heist this year, like she thought she would, but she's won something way, _way_ better today (though she's had for a few years already) -

A love that is to last _forever_.


	13. I Talked to Your Dad

**Just a tiny little post-5x04 fic.**

 **Title is from _Love Story_ by Taylor Swift. Because hey, it's Jake we're talking about. (And the lyrics pretty much sums up the story too lol.)**

* * *

 **I Talked to Your Dad, Go Pick Out a White Dress**

It's late in a Fall afternoon when Victor Santiago listens to his voice mailbox.

He's been out without his phone the whole day, and is rather surprised when he sees the missed phone call appear on his screen. Rather worried as well, when he reads the sender's name.

 _Jake Peralta_ , his only daughter's boyfriend.

He's never called him before, let alone left a voicemail, which startles him that he did so that day. A rush of panic starts coursing through his veins as he presses the button to listen to what the other man had to say then, afraid it's something serious.

Afraid something might have happened to one of the two most important women of his life.

How shocked he is finally, when Jake's recorded voice starts talking through the other end of the line, letting him know of the news -

 _Mr. Santiago, I'm calling you to inform you that I plan to ask your daughter to marry me, but…_

He listens to the whole thing in religious silence, his heart aching a little at the thought of Amy, _his_ Amy, his little tiger who was still just a baby not so long ago (many years ago), on the verge of getting married. In the end he can't help but smile too, though – it's true he didn't think Jake would make a good boyfriend for her at first, but it seems like he is, now.

And even if he's not perfect… the most important is that he loves her really, very much. That he could tell from the first time they met, without any doubt.

Just like he can tell his daughter does love him too, he knows that for sure – recalls desperate phone calls in the middle of the night after the detective was found out guilty, then joyful ones when he got out of jail.

( _I miss him, Dad,_ she'd say through hurtful cries.

 _He's back, Dad,_ she'd say through happy tears.)

"Care to share what's making you smile so brightly?" a voice startles him out of his thoughts, and when he turns in its direction, leaving his gaze away from his phone he's been holding in his hand the whole time after Jake stopped rambling inside, he finds his own wife staring at him with an amused, but questioning, look in her eyes.

He's still grining when he answers her, before putting the voicemail on repeat for her to hear by herself what he means, "I think our daughter finally found _the one_."

She cries of happy tears in response to the perfection of her son-in-law-to-be's speech.

(Later, when Jake finally proposed and Amy calls her parents to let them know about the great news, excitation easily recognisable in her voice as she's telling him that _Jake and I are getting married!_ , he asks to have a word with him after congratulating her. All the fear he's started feeling when his fiancée gave him the phone, not knowing what her father wants from him, is replaced by his heart simply melting out of happiness when the older man only tells him, meaning every word of it:

"Welcome to the family… son.")


	14. Babysitting

**Based on a prompt on Tumblr, asking for Jake and Amy taking care of Gina's baby :)**

* * *

"Ameees, how do I get her to stop crying?!"

Jake, an infant in his arms, sighs as he paces back and forth once more in his living-room, gently rocking the little girl stuck against his chest as an (unsuccessful) attempt to calm her down.

"I don't know, babe," his fiancée's voice comes from the kitchen, rather desperate. "Just… talk to her? I read in a book it usually works. Otherwise hold on, I'm almost done with her bottle here."

It's been like this for the past thirteen minutes and twenty-one seconds – Gina's daughter whining, despite all the things they tried to make her stop. Even Amy's notorious skills at shushing didn't seem to work on her here.

A situation that is almost making them regret agreeing on taking care of her during their shared day-off – even though, to be exact, they didn't quite chose to do it in the first place anyway – were more like _forced_ to.

Indeed, Holt's assistant came to their apartment in the morning without further notice, and put the few-months old in her oldest friend's arms, along with all the stuff she'd need in Amy's hands. She didn't leave a lot of explanations when she left soon after that, other than a quick "can you look after her, I've got important things to do today, thanks guys, bye."

Yet everything was going well, in the beginning, they have to admit that. The Enigma, as her parents (weirdly) called her, was showing to be the adorable baby, giving them happy smiles and playing with Amy's newly-cut hair, truly melting their hearts as wife-and-husband-to-be shared tender, knowing looks to one another.

 _One day they turn would come._

But now, it's like the monster has awoken, and is unstoppable.

That's why, in one last hopeless move, even though she wasn't supposed to eat before at least one more hour, Amy left her fiancé and the infant alone a few minutes ago to prepare a bottle for her, really wishing it's what she needs to calm down. She has no idea what they'll do if it's not what she's been crying for. They've already put in practice all that was written in the books she's been reading about taking care of a child.

(Not that she's been reading a lot of them lately.)

(Or maybe she did.)

(Just out of pure curiosity, you know. Nothing more than just _that_.)

(Who is she kidding, though. Of course she's been reading about the topic to be ready when time comes for Jake and her to extend this little family the both of them created together.)

(That's the logical step after marriage, after all, right?)

(So better start early. _Just in case._ )

She's so busy correcting her own rambling thoughts, patiently waiting for the milk to boil, then to eventually cool down a little so that she can give it to the infant right away when she's back in the living-room, she doesn't notice immediately that everything around her has suddenly become quiet. There's no more echoes of cries in the apartment, nor can she hear Jake's footsteps pacing on the floor.

"Babe?" she asks, confused, and a bit worried, as she finally realises how calm everything is around her now, but no answer comes back to her.

She rushes outside the kitchen then, and stops still in her tracks at the picture that presents itself to her eyes. Jake is there, seated on the couch with the baby carefully laid in his arms as he's telling her a story, and she seems to listen to his voice with a wild interest.

He's so concentrated in his tale, he doesn't hear the woman coming his way.

She doesn't bother calling him again though, simply watches him, arms crossed on her chest and a tender rictus appearing on her face as he goes on with his explanations.

"And then, I told her to take a better look at the belt, and that's when she saw it. The inscription. I made 'Amy Santiago, will you marry me?' engraved on it. Pretty clever, right?"

His pride is easily recognisable in his tone, which makes Amy laugh, as a rush of happy feelings starts coursing through her veins, memories of the night he proposed to her coming back to her mind in flashes. The Enigma must like the idea too, because she giggles as well, no trace of tears or discontentment anymore visible on her face.

As for Jake, he's literally _glowing_ as he stares at his friend's daughter with pure bliss in his brown orbs.

The sight melts his fiancée's heart even a bit more – who would have thought this man could be _that_ great with kids?!

"What did you do to her?" she finally goes out of her reverie, and makes herself known as she slowly approaches them. For the first time Jake turns his attention from The Enigma to the love of his life, startled to see her there at first, but then he just grins wildly when he answers her.

"What you told me to do," he shrugs, as if it were obvious to everyone. "I talked to her. Shared some stories. It didn't do much at first, and I ran out of ideas, so thought about telling her about my favourite tale."

"Which is…?" Amy trails off, even though she knows the answer already (she's _heard_ him telling it, after all).

"Our own, of course," he says what she was waiting to hear. "Especially the part where you said 'yes' to share the rest of your life with me. And it looks like this little one agrees with me."

He points out at the infant on his lap, amused, and they both see her watching them with big, interested eyes, going from one of the adults to the other. She _is_ way more relaxed than before, indeed.

"Well," Amy playfully answers as she takes a seat next to her fiancé on the couch, "I think she wants to hear it one more time, right, baby?" she tenderly rubs the young girl's belly, and she giggles once more at the touch.

"If the lady insists," Jake gives Amy a knowing glance, perfectly aware she is in fact the one who wants to hear about it. But before he starts his story again, he takes the time to make himself more comfortable, putting his free arm around the woman's shoulders to pull her close, then repeats what he's just related a few minutes ago.

 _"Once upon a time, a very clever Detective got a very clever idea…"_

(When Gina comes back to the apartment in the evening, she's welcomed by the snores of the three of them on the couch, Amy's head now laying completely on the crook of Jake's shoulder, and the bottle she had in her hand long forgotten as she and The Enigma quickly fell asleep to the sound of her fiancé recalling the best night of her life, this moment when he popped the question she'd been waiting for for so long.)

(And a bit more than a year later, when Amy announces her pregnancy to her colleagues and they all reunite at Shaw's to celebrate with beers and champagne (and only water for her, of course), Jake's hand resting gently on top of her own on her belly, never taking it away, Gina is the first to react.

"I'm definitively the one who put the idea of having kids into their minds," she proudly tells the members of their squad. "Remember that time I asked you to take care of my baby? It was all part of a plan."

Obviously, Charles disagrees with that. According to him, _he_ is the one who put the idea to their minds, with all the times he's talked them into that for the past years.)

(Actually, only _they_ are the ones who decided that all of their own, when a few months back, as they were doing groceries at the mall, a little girl suddenly took Amy's arm, and called her _mommy_.

Surprised at first, they soon found themselves smiling broadly at each other as they were searching for the real child's mother, learning more in the process about this young girl who wouldn't want to let Amy go until they finally spotted her parents. They didn't have to say it to understand what they were both thinking inside then, when they finally parted ways with the family, and little Sarah, as she was called, happily waved to them.

 _Mommy_ sounded good on Amy. And they were sure it'd be the same for _daddy_ Jake.)


	15. Pumpkin-Stylez

**Written for _endlessvoidofrandomness_ on Tumblr, a little OS I wrote for Halloween, set some time in the future.**

* * *

Some days, Amy misses the time when she was just another Detective at Brooklyn's ninety-ninth precinct, and spent her Halloween nights planning a stupid heist against her boss and coworkers.

Especially when it's almost 8p.m. on the 31st of October and she's stuck in her office, sitting at her desk doing what seems to be never-ending paperwork from all the crimes committed during the last eighteen hours instead of spending a quiet evening with her husband and daughter carving pumpkins and watching movies at home while eating candies as she promised them they would do, their new Halloween tradition as a _family_.

Don't take her wrong, though – she loves her job. She truly does. She loves being the youngest Captain in the history of the NYPD, and she loves having her own squad to take care of, now.

But tonight's a special night, and not only because it's the night everyone seems to agree on not being either kind, sober nor fully-dressed (title of her sextape). Tonight marks the twelfth anniversary of Jake and her engagement, one of the memories she holds the dearest, tight up close with the actual wedding and their child's birth (her graduation as a Captain, too, if she has to be completely honest).

So of course she'd rather be with them than here, working. They even took a carving pumpkins seminar, this year, to make it even more perfect than the previous ones.

She manages to do it, usually – to make it home in time, despite it being the day crime rates go above average.

It seems the whole world is against her and her family plans tonight, though, because soon she's interrupted in her thoughts by one of her Detectives, the good but still too-doubtful Sarah Jones. "Captain," she hails her timidly as she enters her room. "Someone's here to see you," she informs her of the news.

She doesn't even try to retain the annoyed sigh that escapes her throat as she answers her subordinate, "please, make they come."

She takes a quick glance at the clock above the door the other woman is currently leaving through, obeying her command, and feels even more desperate when she sees the time: 8:02. She'll never make it.

Pumpkins will have to get carved without her and the skills she got from her seminar.

Waiting for her guest to come in, _praying_ for whatever they want from her doesn't take too long, she starts busying herself again in what she was doing before her Detective interrupted her in her task, so much that she doesn't hear the steps of people entering the office without even bothering to knock on the door first.

"Special delivery for the most special Captain!" a voice exclaims, and she looks up with a start. She could recognise that voice between thousands of others – her husband's voice.

And there she sees him indeed, standing right in front of her with what seems to be a huge cardboard box in his arms that he soon puts on her desk without further warning. A grin is lighting his features, never leaving his face, and only growing even wider when their eyes finally meet.

Their daughter is there too, she spots her afterwards, smiling playfully as much as he is – which usually means they both have something in mind.

(Not necessarily something good, she's come to learn with the years passing by by their side.)

"Wh– what are you guys doing here?" she asks then, suspicious. "Is everything alright?!"

"Yes, everything is now," Jake says as he starts opening the box between them (she hasn't moved from her chair from the beginning). "Since you didn't seem to be able to come to our Halloween night, we figured our Halloween night had to come to you," he proudly tells her, and a rush of tenderness comes coursing through her veins at his words and their sweet attention.

A break will be more than welcomed, after all, even if she still has a lot to do. She did so much already during the day, never taking a real one for hours, so she at least deserves that.

"Plus," he goes on with his explanation, putting out of the box one big, carved pumpkin, "we wanted to show you we _did_ listen to the seminar you forced us to go to last week. Look," he hands her the fruit for her to see more clearly.

"It's you," their daughter, Ana, speaks for the first time since they arrived as she approaches her parents and points to the figure with a grin, proud of what they spent their afternoon doing (what her uncle Terry didn't hesitate to come help them doing, mostly, because everyone knows that 'Terry loves art' and is a real artist at heart.) "And Dad," she takes out another pumpkin as she goes on, then another, and another.

"And me. We even did Simba. All of us – pumpkin-stylez!" she exclaims, all enthusiastic.

Amy lets out a wholehearted giggle as she watches the carved faces of the more or less recognisable little family and their ginger cat, Simba, whom they adopted a couple of years ago already, when they found him alone and hurt in the woods during one of their Sunday walks.

(Back then, Jake and Ana insisted on doing a remake of the whole 'Timon-and-Pumbaa-find-Simba' scene in the _Lion King_ movie when they first saw him before taking him home – hence the name given to him.)

"That's… super cute," she acknowledges after awhile spent carefully watching the works of the two loves of her life. "Thank you, honey," she looks up at them, and offers them both a tender smile that replicates itself upon their own lips immediately, until it fades a little away as she shamefully adds, "I'm sorry I couldn't make it tonight."

" _I'm Sorry I Couldn't Make it Tonight_ – title of your sextape," Jake only replies, though, amused, which gets him a glare from his wife at his comment.

"Jake!" she reprimands him, pointing out at the girl next to him.

"Sorry. I mean, title of your _love story_ ," he quickly corrects himself, and Amy can't help but laugh again at this censored substitution he's come up with on his running-joke towards her ever since their daughter was born. It seems like old habits die hard, though, because it's not the first time she has to warn him about his language in front of their child.

(It's not his fault he got so used to this banter that has been lasting for years now, the words go out of his mouth without even thinking them anymore, sometimes in conversations that doesn't even ask for it.)

"Don't worry, we kept one at home for us to carve together later," Ana lets her know about, taking her parents back to what's important here, not really interested in their weird exchanges (according to her, anyway). "And we brought candies! Dad said we can't really watch movies in here, so we'll have to do without this year."

To mark her words, she shows her mother the candy bags she had hidden in her pockets until now, and offers her one, before taking a seat in front of her just as Jake takes one next to his wife, making themselves comfortable in her office. The woman's about to argue, though – as much as she loves having them here with her, she'll have to go back to her paperwork soon, and she unfortunately can't be distracted too long.

"Don't worry," Jake seems to read her thoughts. "We won't prevent you from doing whatever you have to. We just wanted to be with you."

She looks at him then, with pure bliss in her eyes as a warm and overwhelming feeling takes over her heart – he knows perfectly how to reassure her.

It's so beautiful, how their relationship didn't change that much throughout the years, and if it did, only for the better. They're still so madly in love with each other, and it doesn't seem to fade away with time.

Only appear to grow wider, if it's even something possible.

"I love you," she's only able to answer then, taking one of his hands in hers, then does the same with her daughter's hand across the desk as she turns towards her. "Both of you. _So much_."

"We love you too," Jake is the one who says it back, before pulling her closer to him with his free arm around her shoulder so that he can put a sweet kiss on her mouth. "And also," he adds when they part, a bit of amusement going through his orbs. "Happy engagement day," he caresses the rings on their intertwined fingers, the memory of that day they officially swore to love each other for the rest of their shared lives.

"Happy engagement day," Amy repeats his words, the same big smile than he wears forming on her own features.

"Gross," Ana breaks this cheesy moment as she watches her parents with a fake-disgusted face, which makes them turn around suddenly in her direction, and break into a burst of laughter.

Finally, this Halloween is turning out pretty good as well, Captain Santiago-Peralta has to admit as she washes off a happy tear from her face.


	16. Dancing in the Dark

**Title is from _Perfect_ by Ed Sheeran. Written for _the-emerald-daisy_ on Tumblr, who asked for some domestic fluff.**

 **It's also inspired by the clip video of _Perfect_ haha.**

* * *

 **Dancing in the Dark (With You Between my Arms)**

As someone who gets cold quite easily, it's obvious that Amy Santiago doesn't like the snow.

Well, it's not really that she doesn't _like_ it – she _does_ find it beautiful, those millions of little flakes falling from the sky and turning everything white on their way as they pile up on the ground – but she'd rather enjoy this view from indoors, a blanket covering her body and a cup of hot chocolate in her hands as she lazily watches it through her window with her fiancé by her side than having to actually be outside under such a bad weather. Something that tends to happen a lot, unfortunately, given her job and how it requires for her and the rest of the squad to always leave their precinct and go out on the field for one reason or another.

Why she asked Jake to engage in a slow dance in the middle of the streets of Brooklyn past midnight under the first snow of the year in that month of November is still a mystery then.

They were quietly walking towards their car hand-in-hand after having some drinks ( _three_ , to be exact, for her – and none for him, as he was the one driving them home that night) at _Shaw's_ with their friends and colleagues to celebrate another closed case when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. She'd heard some music coming from one of the apartments above as someone up there had opened a window to smoke during what must have been some party, and that's all it took for the idea to creep into her mind. She turned towards her fiancé, a huge, playful grin lighting her features in the dark of the cloudy night, and took his second hand in hers to pull him closer to her chest.

He raised a confused eyebrow at her as she started encircling his neck with her arms, but didn't complain for all that, even letting his own hands find their place at her waist instinctively. He still asked, though, "What are you doing?"

"We better get started on practicing for our wedding dance right now," she shrugged, her smile even brighter now that she let the words out. "And I like this song, it kind of reminds me of us," she went on confessing.

Jake felt a pang of happiness, hearing her talk about weddings. Not any wedding – _their_ wedding. They were getting married. Soon, they were going to be husband and wife. Mr. and Mrs. Peralta. (Or Santiago. Or both. They hadn't discussed about what name they would choose to keep yet.) It still felt surreal, sometimes, that he finally got the chance to ask her to marry him, and that she said yes.

It's not that he didn't believe she loved him enough for that, or that she would think it was too soon to do it – it's just that having been imprisoned for a crime he hadn't even committed had made him feel a bit uncertain about his future, locked up with all these murderers (and his cannibal cellmate).

Of course he knew his squad would have always found a way to free him and Rosa eventually. He just hadn't known _when_ at the time. Good thing it happened before Halloween, so that he was able to put his plan into action. If it hadn't been for that interlude, he would have asked her earlier, wouldn't have waited six long months before popping the question, but he was finally somehow glad he had to, now.

Because the proposal had been perfect. Perfectly _them_ , in every aspect.

"Sure you wanna do it _here_?" he went back to reality after awhile lost in his thoughts, and spotted how red her cheeks had turned during the only few minutes they spent outside, despite the big scarf that was covering half of her face and the beanie he'd lent her well adjusted upon her head. Hopefully she was wearing gloves – because otherwise he was sure he would have felt the coldness of her fingers currently curled around the naked skin of his neck.

She didn't answer anything to his concern though, only held him tighter against her, his body heat enough to warm her up, and started moving around the street to the rhythm of the music still coming from above them, a calm, loving song. He didn't insist then, and simply followed her steps.

 _Baby I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms…_

That's how they ended up as they are now, entangled in the middle of the street, snow still falling from the sky in huge flakes and covering their steps on floor, they heads resting against each other's. Some people have been, and are still, passing by sometimes and stopping a second to look at this happy, now covered in snow couple with amused smiles on their faces, but they don't mind. They don't even see them. They're too lost in their dance, in _each other_ , to notice them.

To think that the first time they danced together, Amy hated it, not knowing what to do with her feet… Now, thanks to the man with whom she's about to spend the rest of her life with (and a few classes), she's gotten way better at it than she used to, and more importantly, she _enjoys_ it. So much that for once, she doesn't really mind being in the cold air of a late autumn night. The beauty of the moment and the joy that is taking over her heart as she's pressed against her fiancé's chest are everything she needs to feel warm inside and out.

None of them truly knows how long they remain like this – moving about in sync even after the sound of the music is long gone in their ears, nor who's the first to stop their tracks, but even after that, they still stay in each other's arms, not wanting to let go yet, quietly watching the other with so much bliss and happiness and _love_ shining in their brown eyes that it would be enough to illuminate the whole dark neighbourhood by themselves. They're so drawn to each other, locked up in their perfect bubble.

"I can't wait to become your wife," Amy breaks the silence with a tender confession. "I love you."

"Aw," Jake lets out a really touched moan. "I can't wait to become your husband either," he replies, and reaches to touch her cheek. His soft expression changes suddenly when he starts stroking it tenderly, though, as he's met by nothing else but cold skin against his fingers. "God, Ames, you're freezing!" he exclaims, worry easily recognisable in his voice. "Let's go home," he encircles her shoulders with his arm to keep her the closer possible and tries to warm up her while he leads her towards their car.

Once inside the vehicle, he doesn't wait any second to start it up so that he can put the heat on immediately. A music suddenly can be heard then, coming from the radio – a funny coincidence, they think, as they soon recognise it as the same one they just engaged a dance in the middle of the street to a few moments ago.

 _Darling just hold my hand, be my girl I'll be your man, I see my future in your eyes…_

"So…" Amy trails off after awhile spent in silence listening to the lyrics, remembering the sweet moment she just shared with the love of her life (even if it costed her not being able to feel the tips of her fingers and toes for several minutes – it was way than worth it). "I know we still have plenty of time to think about it, but… what do you think of this song being the opening song for our wedding?"

"I think it's just _perfect_ ," Jake replies with a smile, then bends down in her direction to put a soft kiss upon her lips, that soon turns into something more passionate ( _his_ face his warm, after all, and Amy is still in need of some heat to feel better…).


	17. Bloody Night

**This one is kind of inspired by a dream I had, some canon divergence from the show.**

* * *

Everything happened so quickly.

Last thing he knows, he was there, a gun pointed at his temple with both his hands tied in his back, taken hostage by a criminal. His partner was standing in front of him, helpless, her trembling fingers wrapped around her own weapon, unable to pull the trigger – it would kill him too otherwise.

There was fear and tears in her brown eyes, and despite the critical situation in was stuck in, all he could think about was how beautiful she actually was.

It was strange, this feeling coursing through his veins as he was as close to death as he's ever been in his entire career. He should be (and truly _thought_ he would be), scared as well, but truth is he wasn't.

On the contrary, even, he was feeling oddly serene.

In fact, if these were to be his last moments on this Earth, he was rather happy the last image he's ever seen would be of her. As long as she was safe… That's why he smiled to her, wanting to reassure her.

 _You'll be alright._

Praying her to _do it_ , too.

 _Shoot him. Even if it hurts me. Even if_ he _shoots_ me _._

He would only have one regret. Not telling how he still felt about her. How he never stopped feeling.

 _I've always liked you – even though I ended up being too much of a coward to tell you so._

So, when he heard the gunshot, he was certain this was it. _The end_.

She had let out his name in a desperate cry, and he had fallen onto the floor with the impact. He could feel the blood coursing through his body now – his hands, his chest, and even his hair.

There was no other explanation, then. Death was coming for him.

It wasn't as if someone he hadn't seen nor heard had come to his rescue at the last minute. Amy and he were all alone, in this hell of a place.

(Well, if their criminal wasn't taken into account, of course.)

And yet, when he finally manages to open his eyes, it's not the cliché white light that blinds him.

No, it's rather the darkness of the floor he's fallen upon, pulled down by the now dead body of his perp laying next to him, and _his_ blood dirtying him on its way out of the deceased's skull – not his own.

"Jake!" Amy's voice calls him when she spots him moving, and he looks up for the first time.

It's not only _her_ gaze that he meets. Their Captain is there as well, all geared up, and a gun in his hand.

It doesn't take the detective more than just that to understand what really happened here, then. Holt is the one who took down his attacker.

He can't think too much about this all, though, since soon enough, without further warning, arms come wrapping around him, and he finds himself stuck against his beloved partner's chest.

He doesn't wait to tighten their embrace, and finally lets out all the fear he's been repressing this whole time, without even realising he had it within until now.

It's soothing to be there with her, to be able to _touch_ her still, with her good, familiar, scent taking over the smell of fresh blood surrounding him in his nostrils.

"It's alright," he hears Amy whisper after a long, quiet while, and he doesn't quite know if she's trying to calm him down with her words, or _herself_. Probably both.

After all, she's been through hell too, watching her partner like this without being able to do anything.

"You're alright, you're alright," she repeats.

"I am," he quietly answers, and hugs her even tighter than they already are.

He's so glad she's there with him, right now. That they're safe and sound. That he still has time… to tell her how he truly feels about her. About _them_ and their relationship. That he'd like more.

If she wants it too…

(They're both single, this time. There's no more Teddy or Sophia or anyone else between them.)

For a moment they remain like this, until Holt eventually decides to interrupt them.

They're still on a crime scene, after all.

"Go home," he simply tells them, though. "That's an order," he adds when he notices them open their mouths, ready to argue with it – they can't just leave like that.

They still have a lot of paperwork to do, and questions to answer regarding the death of this criminal.

But apparently, for now, all of this doesn't matter to their boss, and they _can_ just 'leave like that'. After what they've experienced, they need some well-deserved rest, according to him.

(And to wash up, also, given the amount of blood that's now covering both their bodies.)

The ride back in their shared police car is spent in silence.

Amy still tries to sneak some glances at her partner every chance she has before quickly putting all her attention back to the road as she's the one driving, to make sure he's alright.

To remind herself that he's here, with her, and _fine_ , too. That they avoided the worst, thanks to Holt.

Only when she's stopped in front of Jake's building for a few seconds already and none of them seems to be ready to leave the vehicle does she eventually speak. "Do you… want me to come with you?"

"Please," he lets out a sigh, relieved she asked. He doesn't feel like being alone right now.

(He doesn't feel like _leaving her_ , mostly.)

She obliges, then, cutting off contact and going out of the car, soon followed by her colleague.

They don't say much as they climb up the stairs and make their way into his place either.

It's just as messy as Amy remembers it was the last she was there, and she can't help but smile at how much of Jake's personality is visible in its decoration. She wanders around the room, hanging her coat on the hook by the main door, and acting so natural – as if she were at home here.

Jake watches her do for a while, a small rictus forming upon his lips as he does so.

 _It's like she actually belongs here._

He's taken back to the true reason behind her presence in his apartment soon enough, though, when his gaze finally leaves her face and falls onto her shirt – it's stained with fresh blood he surely passed onto her during their shared embrace earlier.

"I –," he says then, his voice husky for staying silent for too long, and points to her chest. "Do you want me to lend you a shirt or something, to get rid of this?"

She looks down, confused by his words, and that's when she sees the marks. She hadn't noticed them before, too concentrated by other things to see them. Panic soon starts coursing through her veins as she realises she's not the only one covered in red – _he_ is too, in way greater quantities than she is.

Jake is quick to calm her down, hopefully. "Relax, it's not mine," he tells her. He doesn't need for her to voice it to actually understand what all this blood made her believe.

Her horrified look scrutinizing him from afar in search of any visible wound spoke for itself.

"Well… I'd like that, yeah," she accepts his offer then, manages a shy smile at him, a bit taken aback by the fact he was able to read her _that well_.

He doesn't leave her alone in the room long, and within a few minutes is back by her side, his favourite N.Y.P.D. hoodie in his hand. "Here," he gives it to her, then acts as if he's going to leave again.

"Feel free to make yourself home here. I'll be in the bathroom, trying to take this out too," he explains himself, pointing out to the stains covering his own T-shirt, but also hands, arms, and even his hair.

Amy waits until he's closed the door behind him to take off her shirt, and put on her friend's hoodie, his scent soon taking over her whole being. Then she goes on with her wandering around his place.

As she's watching the few pictures spread across one of his pieces of furniture, one of them, looking familiar, catches her attention. She remembers it. How proudly he showed her he had framed it –

The reminiscence of their victory over the Vulture, all those months ago…

Back at the precinct, she noticed it was gone but didn't know _he_ was the one who took it home.

Her little discovery immediately melts her heart, and a tender rictus makes its way across her face at what this means. He cares about her, so much that she's even allowed her own spot right between his mother and an image of their whole squad together they took during their annual weekend together.

And, of course, she cares about him too. He's always been such a good friend to her – her _best_ friend, if she would dare say so, even. She doesn't quite know what she would have done if their boss hadn't come in time to save him – save the both of them, actually. And she prefers not to think about it either.

He's alive, after all. And well. That's all that matters.

He must be shaken up, despite him not showing it too much, but it's nothing that can't be undone.

Suddenly though, Amy is taken out of her reverie and back to reality when she hears a sound coming from the bathroom – as if something just fell hard onto the floor, then a curse.

She doesn't have to hesitate one second before rushing towards the room where her colleague is, and is relieved when she sees he hasn't locked to door behind him. She can easily enter then…

… and eventually finds herself face-to-face with the brunette, kneeling shirtless in front of his tub and bending over it, his arms covered in shower gel as he attempts to take the blood off his arms.

His hands (and whole body, too) are shaking so much, though, that not much work has been done in the whole time he's been in there. The open bottle of shower gel is on the floor now, she soon notices – hence the noise she heard, probably. She reaches to it then, but doesn't give it back to him.

Instead, she kneels by his side, and carefully grabs his arm, along with a washcloth.

He finally looks up at her, confused, but doesn't complain anyway. He doesn't have the strength to do so right now – he has to admit it, he's way more traumatised than he first thought he was.

"Here," she tells him as she washes off the last red stains of his body more efficiently than he ever did with one hand, while the other has found its place on his naked back, stroking gently, back and forth.

"Look, soon all of this will just just a bad memory," she tells him what he desperately needs to hear.

Then, when she's done with both his arms and there is no trace of what happened visible on him, she puts the shower gel back where it belongs, and grabs a bottle of shampoo laying next to it instead, ready to take care of the last part of his body that is still covered in their perp's blood.

This time, Jake is about to argue, but she shushes him before he has the chance to say a single word. "Let me help you with that too," Amy offers, and her voice is so full of concern, he actually lets her do.

She puts some shampoo in her hands then, and starts washing his hair.

He closes his eyes at the touch, trying to relax.

 _Charles is wrong_ , is all that the male detective manages to think about as he's putting all his thoughts on Amy's fingers and how they're working on his skull. _This gesture is nothing near erotic._

But it _is_ good, and sweet, and mostly all he needs to calm down right now.

It's his friend trying to cheer him up, her hands tenderly massaging his hair as she's talking to him, _with_ him, sharing stories and silly banter as they're used to, and making sure he doesn't look down at the red foam falling into the tub not to freak him out as the blood is slowly leaving his raven curly hair.

Only when she's done with everything does he open his eyes again, and instantly meets hers. She's so close to him right now, closer than he remembered she initially was, with her smiling face only a few inches away from him. He can't help but smile in return – he's feeling way better now, thanks to her help.

Thanks to her only presence by his side.

They remain like this for awhile, neither one of them moving from where they're kneeling next to each other on the floor and in front of the bathtub, eye-in-eye without exchanging any word.

It's peaceful.

Amy's hand is now resting on her partner's chest, unconsciously playing with the bits of hairs laying there. She can feel his heartbeat going faster with each new passing second, and she's sure hers is doing the same too right now as she's getting lost in his brown, loving orbs blissfully watching her.

Finally though, Jake breaks their moment, looking away as he speaks. "I, uh – thank you."

"Don't thank me. That's what friends are here for, right?"

He swears he recognised some bitterness in her use of the word 'friends' and a bit of disappointment in him breaking contact, but tries not to read too much into it. He's still in shock, and imagining things that he wants to be true – nothing else. She doesn't like him like _that_. Not anymore, anyways.

Not like _he_ does, her.

Eventually they decide to stand up and leave the bathroom, going back to the living room.

When they watch the time, they're surprised to learn it's past 8pm, and so it's rather naturally that Jake invites Amy to stay for dinner then. One thing turning into another, he prays her to stay a little longer when they're done eating, not feeling like being alone yet, and that's how they end up curled up on the couch in front of the TV.

The distraction is truly welcomed, after the events of the day, and before all they know that will happen the days after – the paperwork, and interrogations, and so many other stuff.

But in the meantime, it's with her head carefully laid in the crook of her friend's neck that Amy closes her eyes to the sound of _Property Brothers_ and the slow, even beats of Jake's _living_ heart.

(She already knew she wasn't going home tonight anyway, from the moment he asked her to stay a bit more after their shared meal, so she doesn't really feel bad dozing off like this.)

And, when he thinks she's deeply asleep next to him, Jake finally tells her what he's intended to say for a while now, but never finding the guts to do so before. Facing death truly helped.

(Even if not enough to say it to her face yet. But it's still a beginning.)

"I _really_ like you, Amy Santiago. You know – romantic-stylez."

What he didn't expect, though, is for her to answer in a tired, almost inaudible whisper, "I like you too."

She then smiles at him, but doesn't bother opening her eyes. She still reaches to take his hand in hers, and pulls herself even more against his side as he passes his arm around her shoulders.

There will be plenty of time to talk about these feelings tomorrow. And all the days after this one.

For now, they just need some rest.


	18. Dye Hard

**This one is inspired by a post _juliadorable_ posted on Tumblr after Amy got a haircut in the show.**

* * *

Amy's alone in the apartment, looking at herself through the mirror after a long, hot morning shower, taking some time for herself as it's the first day-off she's not sharing with Jake since he popped the question a few weeks earlier, when the idea suddenly occurs to her mind.

With all the changes that are going to happen in her life soon – her becoming a sergeant, and marrying the love of her life – she feels like it's about time to maybe make some _physical_ changes about herself as well.

Which means, in that case, going to the hairdresser.

Even though she's used to taking care of her hair herself, cutting the tips off when it's becoming too brittle, today she wants something else – something _new_. She wants an actual whole, different haircut.

Unfortunately, the last hairdresser she's been to has closed for quite awhile ago now, and she doesn't know one that she could trust enough with such a job. Unless… maybe there _is_ one.

Quickly then, before she has time to think about it twice, a towel still wrapped around her wet hair, she rushes out of the bathroom and towards the kitchen, where all of the important phone numbers Jake and her need are all gathered on a same piece of paper put on the fridge.

(She forced him to do that, one day, after they spent two hours searching through all of his stuff for some very urgent number he had to call back and written down somewhere but couldn't find anymore. Never would she do that again – it was way to stressing.)

It doesn't take her long this time to find what she's looking for among the list, scribbled in her fiancé's recognisable messy handwriting – _The Dye Hard Salon_.

( _Of course_ he had to pick a hairdresser with such a pun as its salon's name, she thinks. She can easily picture him literally glowing with happiness as he discovered the place and entered there for the first time.)

With the image in her head, and a smile upon her face, she takes her mobile and starts dialing.

"Hello?" a male voice at the other end of the line answers soon after.

"Hi," Amy greets them. "I'm calling to take an appointment. Would you happen to have some space left for today?"

"Let me check that," the man says, and for a few seconds the only sound the detective can hear through the phone is the one of pages silently turning. "We do have a free spot this afternoon," they talk again after a while. "2:30. Is that good with you?"

"It's perfect," she answers.

"What name, please?" the man asks once more.

"Santiago," Amy gives it.

They say goodbye then, agreeing on seeing each other later, and hang up.

* * *

It's exactly 2:15 at her watch when Amy enters the _Dye Hard_ salon.

Since she's early, she sits in one of the chairs there. But, as she waits for her turn to come, thinking about what she truly wants as a new haircut, she starts wondering and feeling nervous about this finally being a huge mistake.

What if she doesn't like the result?!

Soon enough then, she regrets her impulse. She should have given more thought to it, she tells herself, weigh up the pros and cons, and not rush things like she did in the morning…

(Damn dating someone like Jake for making her like this.

Even though she has to admit it's done her nothing but just good until now, letting a bit of spontaneity into her life. And it's just a haircut anyway.

If she does end up not liking it, well, it'll grow back quickly and just be a bad memory to remember. No real big deal here.)

Hopefully, she can't worry too much about it all, because a man in his mid-fifties finally come to her after a few minutes, and asks her to come with him as he's done with his last customer and can now take care about her.

He lets her leave her coat and purse in the salon's cloakroom, then before he begins with doing anything else, he goes to the counter, and asks her, "do you have a loyalty card? You can have a reduced-price hair treatment, if you do."

"I'm… not sure," Amy sincerely acknowledges.

After all, knowing her fiancé, there's a very few chances he has one she could use as well, even if he's probably had the same hairdresser for years now. She still tries, though. "Can you check on your computer if you have someone under the name Peralta, please?"

Something in her sentence must trigger the older man, because as soon as Jake's name comes out of her mouth, he suddenly looks up to her, watching her with a deeper attention than he did before – studying her with his green, piercing orbs, even.

"Peralta, you say?" he repeats. "You must be Amy, then?"

"Yes…" the woman trails off, not really understanding what's going on here.

How does this stranger knows her name? She's quite sure she only gave him her last name on the phone. Is she supposed to know about him too?!

Because no matter how hard she tries to remember, she can't seem to recall him from anywhere.

"I'm so glad to finally meet you!" the other answers for her, though, as he goes on – he doesn't seem to have noticed the confusion coursing in her eyes. "Jake told me so much about you."

"He did?" Amy's confusion grows wider with every new word he lets out.

Why would Jake tell this man about _her_?

"Are you kidding me?" he exclaims, startling her a bit with the enthusiasm he's showing. "I've known the kid since he was a teenager. I went through all of his weird hair phases with him. I still remember when he entered here for the first time with his mother with shining eyes, claiming this salon had the best name ever. We talked about our shared love for the _Die Hard_ movie the entire time I cut his hair then."

"Well, that sounds like the Jake I know," Amy can't help but laugh at this anecdote of a younger version of her fiancé. It seems like she was right, earlier, when she imagined him discovering this place…

"And I still remember when he came here a couple of years ago too, bragging about the fact that he was finally going on a date with this friend and colleague he had had a huge crush on for months, and how he was looking forward to it, after all this time pining for her. He seemed so happy back then, he couldn't stop talking about her. Or should I say… _you_."

The hairdresser can't hide his nostalgic rictus, his mind full of memories.

(" _Leon!" Jake rushed into the salon, a huge grin never leaving his features as he spoke. "I hope you have an available spot for me today, because tonight's a big night, and I need it to be just_ perfect _!"_

" _Well, if it's for a special occasion, I'm sure I can find something," the concerned man answered, always happy to see his oldest customer. Then, curious, he added, "but you have to tell me more about this special night."_

 _The detective spent the whole time telling his friend about how great Amy was, then._ )

"But certainly never as happy as the time he told me about his plans of…" so-called Leon goes on with sharing his stories, but stops soon after in his tracks, suddenly unsure about telling them anymore.

He'd hate to be the one breaking it to her if Jake hasn't done it yet…

When he spots the small ring shining on the woman's left hand, though, he starts speaking again, the rictus he's been wearing on his face since he learned who she was growing even wider at the sight of it.

(Just like Amy's is too, as she can't help but feel deeply touched by what she's learning about her fiancé.)

"… his plans of asking you to marry him. And I see he finally did, and you said yes? Congratulations! This is such great news."

"Thank you…" Amy answers, feeling her cheeks turning a bit red, and instinctively reaching for the ring with her right hand, gently stroking it with her finger – this very real (and so beautiful) testimony of the promise of a lifetime with the man she loves, her heart beating fast in her chest.

Jake apparently being so pumped about their first date back in the day, and then their engagement when he was preparing the big surprise, is the cutest thing she's heard for sure.

"Well, I'm so sorry," the hairdresser takes her out of her reverie all of a sudden as he goes out of his own and remembers what she actually came here for in the first place. "I'm talking, but I'm not doing my job… Shall we head to the sinks, and you tell me what kind of haircut you need?"

"Sure," the woman agrees.

(When, about an hour later, she finally leaves the salon without paying ('engagement gift of the house', the man insisted), Amy isn't disappointed – all the contrary.

Because not only does she _love_ her new haircut, she really does, but she also actually enjoyed even more learning all of these sweet anecdotes Jake's hairdresser had to tell about him, and what the detective had to say about her to him.

So, it's with her heart full of warmth and a huge grin on her face that she says goodbye to Leon.)

* * *

Later that day, when Jake comes back from work, she can't help but kiss him 'hello' a little longer than she usual does, a little more emotion transpiring through it than usually.

"What was that for?" he asks then when they part, half-amused, half-intrigued about her surprising gesture.

"I just… love you," she tells him, watching him with so much bliss in her eyes as she bites on her lower lip, recalling his hairdresser's words from earlier, and immediately his expression softens, matching hers while a grin of his own grows on his face as well.

"Aw," he answers right away, "I love you too," then kisses her again.

Even though he's heard her say those same words so many times before, and even though they're so deep in their relationship now they're getting _married_ , it still amazes him so much, to hear them from her.

And he's certain he'll never cease to feel like it, every time she'll tell him that – even when they'll be old and surrounded by children and grandchildren of their own during happy family dinners.

For a moment they remain like this, simply lost in each other in the living room, not wanting to let go of the other, until Jake finally notices it. "You had a haircut?" he's suddenly taken back to reality.

Carefully, very tenderly, he puts one hand in Amy's now shorter hair, and catches one raven strand, studying it.

"Yeah, I, uh, thought it was time for a little change, with everything that is coming up – Thanksgiving dinner with both our families, and the seargent results coming soon, and the wedding, and…" she starts rambling, coming up with all her excuses, and her fiancé can't help but smile at how adorable she looks right now.

He finally stops her in her tracks, though, as he takes her hand in both his and says, "I love it."

"You do?" Amy immediately calms down, and catches her breath again.

"Yeah. You look wonderful," he reassures her.

"Thank you," heat comes to the young woman's cheeks as she blushes at the compliment.

She gets closer to her fiancé then, and brushes her lips onto his. And, as they share yet another sweet kiss, Jake lets his hand discover her partner's new haircut, letting his fingers curl into it, stroking it ever so gently.

He can't help but add to his comment when they are finally ready to let go of each other, a loving, but also amused look in his eyes as he speaks, "I might not be the best judge here, though. You know I'd still find you beautiful even if you were dressed with a trash bag or anything."

Amy laughs in return, her heart even warmer than before beating fast inside her chest now.

This man might not be perfect, but sure thing is that he's perfect for _her_.


	19. The World Is Brighter Than the Sun

**Set some time in some near (hopefully) future. Based on a prompt on Tumblr asking for a 'Peraltiago baby fic' :)**

 **Title is from _Light_ by Sleeping at Last.**

* * *

 **The World Is Brighter Than the Sun Now That You're Here**

"Charles? Charles!"

As she's on her first week past her eighth month of pregnancy, Amy, who's been assigned on desk duty at work for awhile now, is taking a break and relaxing in Babylon with her husband's best friend.

Since Jake is currently out on the field with the rest of their squad, the later wouldn't let her alone more than just a few minutes, 'you know, in case something happens and you need someone'.

And even though she felt a bit annoyed by it at first – she's _pregnant_ , not dying, no need to worry that much about her; she can handle herself –, she can't help but be glad he insisted on staying with her, after all. Because, given how badly her contractions hurt right now, more than it ever did before, and the puddle that appeared between her legs, it looks like 'baby Peraltiago,' as her partner took the sweet habit of calling it from the day she told him the news, decided to come out sooner than expected.

"Yes, Mommy?" Charles answers enthusiastically, not looking at her right away. "You need anything?"

"Call me Mommy one more time and I–…" the other detective starts, but then soon stops in her tracks, and takes a deep breath. "You know what, nevermind. There's no time for it right now. My waters broke," she lets it out in a rather matter-of-factly way, and the man's reaction to it doesn't wait to come.

"WHAT?!" he suddenly turns to her, panic easily readable in his tone and gestures, and his gaze soon fixates upon the puddle for a few seconds, as if lost in a sort of trance state.

"My waters broke," Amy repeats what she just informed her colleague of, ever so quietly.

This seems to take Charles back to life, since only a few seconds later, he's looking at her, right into her brown eyes. He hasn't calmed down a bit, though – all the contrary, even.

"No, it can't be!" he starts rambling. "You're still about a month due, and Jake's not here, and…"

"Charles!" she calls his name to make him shut up. "Stop freaking out, everything's gonna be just fine, but you have to focus up and listen to me!" she can't let his panic reach her – not right now.

She's prepared for this moment. There's nothing to worry about, then. "There's a binder in my desk that I left in case something like this would happen," she informs him. "I need you to go look for it now, and then you'll take me to the hospital. I'm taking care of bringing Jake back."

"Okay…" the older detective's voice is still shaking as he answers the younger woman, but at least he's not shouting anymore. He begins his way out of the room and up the bullpen, until he stops and turns again. "Take deep breaths, I'll be back soon," he tries giving Amy some advice as he sees her actually struggling with her pain, though she manages to hide it pretty well. "And… don't give birth before Jake's here, okay? I'd hate it for him to miss that moment."

"I can't really promise any–…" he gives her a threatening look as she's talking about not really being the one deciding here. So she sighs in return, and corrects herself, "I'll do my best."

Charles smiles at that, apparently pleased with her answer this time, and finally rushes out.

"You've heard Charles," she whispers once alone in the secret bathroom, tenderly rubbing at her huge, right now very hurtful belly. "You're gonna wait for daddy, right?!"

After that, she reaches for her phone, and dials Rosa's number. "Pick up, pick up, pick up…" she prays as she not so patiently waits for her to answer.

"Rosa!" she practically screams her coworker's name when she finally lets out her 'hello?'

"Amy? Are you alright?" the brunette, at the other end of the line, asks, suspicious.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," she says in a too high-pitched, too enthusiastic voice to sound true. "Everything is doing _great_."

"What's going on?" Rosa doesn't buy it for a second – she can tell something's up.

"Are you and Jake still on your way to your crime scene by any chance? Because it would be _awesome_ if you guys could turn back as soon as you can, and join Charles and I at the hospital. Oh, and tell Holt he's gonna need backups on his case as well."

"What happened? Why do you want us to go to the hospital?" the other woman starts really panicking this time, which of course freaks Jake out as well, who's next to her, driving the car. Amy can hear him asking tons of questions through the phone. _What is she saying, what's going on, is she alright?_

"Don't worry," she tries reassuring them, then. "It's just…"

She doesn't have time to finish her sentence, because at the same time, Charles enters the room, and starts yelling, proudly showing what he has in his hands, "I HAVE THE BINDER! Let's go!"

"Amy?!" Rosa urges her to continue.

"… my waters broke," she acknowledges before hanging up without even waiting for a reaction of any kind on the other end of the line, and painfully stands up, leaning on Charles on their way to his car.

As for Jake and Rosa, following their colleague's call, there's a few seconds of utter silence inside the vehicle, during which none of them says a word. Until it finally occurs to Jake's mind.

"It's… it's happening?" he stutters, in shock. "Like… for realz? I'm gonna be a father?" Tears start prickling in his eyes, threatening to fall down his cheeks, as he lets out the last word.

 _Father_. He's about to be a father.

Amy and he will be parents very soon. Sooner than expected, even.

"OH MY GOD, I'M GONNA BE A FATHER," he suddenly shouts, startling the woman next to him with his enthusiasm. "I can't miss it. I have to be there," realisation hits him, and all of a sudden he's turning the wheel in the middle of the road to change directions, and drive right back to the hospital.

"Hey, careful, you don't want to create a accident, not today," Rosa reprimands him.

"Sorry, I'm just… super excited… and stressed out, and… Rosa, what if I'm not ready to be a father?! I'm already missing my baby's birth, how bad of a father am I for missing it? I knew I should have stayed with Amy today, she didn't feel too good this morning. I should have known it meant something."

The male detective can't really think straight anymore, spiraling, overwhelmed by all different kinds of emotions coursing through his mind, all at the same time.

"I mean, I didn't have any good father figure growing up, how can I become one? What if I freak out one day and leave my family behind just like mine did? What if it's something that runs in the family?"

"Jake!" the brunette next to him stops him in his tracks. "Look at me," he turns then, quiet.

"Actually, no, look at the road, and just _listen_ to me," Rosa corrects herself, seeing that he's not paying attention to the road before them anymore. "You're not your father. You're a good man. You love Amy, and you already love this baby, and you won't abandon them. I'm sure you're gonna be a _great_ father. Plus you're not going to miss the birth. It's not like she was in the middle of labour already, and we were at the other end of the city. We have plenty of time to make it there."

She puts a hand on his shoulder to leave more weight to her words, and he smiles at the gesture. She actually managed to calm him down a bit, finally. She's right. Everything's gonna be alright.

And he's not alone in this, anyway. He has the most wonderful woman with him, to go through this amazing journey ahead of us, that is to be a parent.

Who needs him by her side, right now…

"Thanks, Rosa," he offers her a tender rictus.

"Yeah, no problem," she simply shrugs, and concentrates back on the road.

* * *

"Listen to me baby," Charles, as they're waiting in his car at a red light in their way to the hospital, with Amy by his side trying to keep her breathings as even as she can to control the increasing pain she's feeling, turns towards her, watching her stomach as he points at it and starts talking to it.

"Do _not_ blow this up for us, okay?" he says. "You may want to go out early, but _at least_ wait for Jake to be there. I know you're a good baby. You're America's dream couple's baby after all. And half-Jake."

"Charles, I swear, if you don't stop talking to my belly right now, I'm jumping off the car and go to the hospital by foot," his colleague threatens. She's currently hurting too much to deal with his ramblings.

"No, no, no, don't do that!" the man panics. "I'll shut up, I promise. You stay calm, and don't move too much. It'll help keep the baby inside if you just… relax. I can put on some music if it helps?"

"If it means I won't have to hear you talking anymore…" she agrees, rolling her eyes, as she tries to find a comfortable position on her seat – or at least the less uncomfortable one she can manage.

The rest of the ride goes rather quietly then – besides Amy's cries of pain from time to time, as her contractions are getting bigger and bigger with every new minute passing by.

Soon enough hopefully, they're parked in the hospital, and doctors are already taking care of her, leaving Charles alone as they're running some exams on her to make sure everything is going well despite the fact that she's a few weeks early and putting her in a room to prepare her for delivery.

"Come with us," a nurse comes to Charles once everything is ready, as he's walking around the waiting room, unable to calm down, watching through the window in desperate search of Jake and Rosa. "We can take you to your wife now. She's fine. Labour hasn't started yet," she informs him, and he chokes at her use of words, even though he's relieved to learn there's still some time for his best friend to arrive.

"Ugh, gross. I'm not the husband. He's actually on his way so… can you make sure the baby stays, you know, where it is until he's there, please?"

"What?!" the nurse exclaims, quite shocked by such a request. "That's not how it works!"

Just as Charles is about to argue, a voice in his back, breathless of having run four floors because he couldn't wait for the elevator to come, cuts him in his tracks. "Don't worry buddy, I'm here."

"Jake!" the older detective shouts as he turns around, and finds himself face-to-face with the brunette. "You made it! I knew you would!" he's as happy as he's ever been right now, all worry he's felt leaving his whole body all of a sudden at the simple sight of the man in front of him.

"Yeah. Where's Amy?" Jake doesn't waste any second on engaging in small talk.

"Well, I suppose you're the husband then?" the woman who was speaking to Charles just before asks. "Come with me. As I was telling your friend, your wife is doing just fine – labour hasn't started yet," she offers him a smile, and he doesn't reply with anything other than a thankful rictus.

All he wants now is to see _her_. To be where he needs to be.

 _By her side._

When he finally enters her room and their eyes meet, glowing, a simple glance at the other manage to calm them both down instantly, and the male detective rushes towards the love of his life without waiting any longer.

"Thank God Jake, you're here," Amy lets out a sigh, relieved.

"Of course I am," he kneels beside her, and takes her hand in his, kissing it on his way. "I'm so sorry I'm not the one who took your here. I shouldn't have left you."

"Hey, it's nothing. We couldn't know it would happen today. And actually, Charles did a great job… I'm glad you're here now th–… aaargh!" a contraction cuts her at the end of her sentence.

"What's going on?" Jake, worried, turns to the nurse who stayed by the door.

"Nothing," she reassures him. "I think it's time to call the midwife."

Then, after that, it's a rather long, painful process – several hours of labour, of Amy crushing Jake's hand between her fingers as she's hurting too much, of him telling her how great she's doing, tenderly stroking her wet hair and reminding her of how much he loves her – but in the end, after one last push and shout of pain, the room suddenly fills out with silence, only for a few seconds though.

Because soon enough the woman's yellings are replaced by baby cries, just as one so tiny, so delicate little human is presented to them.

"It's a girl," the midwife informs them of their child's sex with a grin as she quickly examines the infant to be sure everything is okay with her before gently putting her into her exhausted mother's arms, and it's all it takes for the couple to burst into happy tears at the same time.

"Hi Ana," the female detective calls her by the name Jake and her both already agreed on giving if they were to have a girl while she _oh so_ tenderly rubs her belly. "Welcome to the family, baby."

She kisses her forehead then and, watching the now two loves of his life like this, Jake can't help but think _this_ is by far the best day of his life, and the most beautiful picture he's ever seen as well.

For awhile they remain like, without saying anything, until Amy finally looks up, salty pearls of joy still prickling in her eyes, and smiles broadly, though tiredly, at her husband. "Do you wanna hold her?"

"Of course," he's quick to answer, and carefully takes the little girl from her mother's arms.

And, as he softly rocks her, Ana peacefully sleeping against his chest, the doubts he had before about being a father suddenly disappears. Looking at her, he _knows_ everything is going to be fine.

He knows the three of them – and all of the girl's future siblings – are going to form a beautiful, happy, _united_ family. He's actually never been so sure of anything else than he's sure of it right now.

He'll never let her down. He'll never let _them_ down, with Amy.

"I love you," he whispers to the baby's ear, then sits next to his wife on the bed, making sure not to wake the infant up in his way, and kisses the woman's temple as he adds, "both of you."

"I love you too," Amy replies with emotion, letting her head rest on her husband's shoulder, watching their baby sleep in her father's arms and enjoying this quiet moment before Charles, Rosa, and the rest of their big family start visiting them and welcoming little Ana Peralta-Santiago into the world.

For now, it's just the three of them, surrounded by all the love they share.


	20. Doing the Worm

**Inspired by the cold open of 5x09, because Amy's face watching Jake 'doing the worm' was priceless.**

* * *

First time Amy witnesses Jake 'doing the worm' is only a few weeks after they start dating.

She's standing in front of his apartment's door, waiting for him to open to her after a long day at work, when she makes out some music coming from the other side, and Jake is still not answering her.

She decides to enter without any invite then, because it's clear he didn't notice her.

"Hey," she tries to let her presence known while she walks carefully towards the sound she can hear from the living-room, "I took the liberty to come in since you weren't answ–…"

She's stopped in her tracks suddenly, mouth half-open in shock, startled by the sight in front of her.

Indeed, her _boyfriend_ (such a designation to refer to him still feels a bit surreal sometimes – that she's actually in a relationship with the man she's had a crush on for awhile now, and that it's not just one of those dreams she's made a lot during the past months) is here, lying on the floor with all his attention on a video playing on his computer next to him and trying to mimic the man on the video's moves.

It seems like he still hasn't seen her, as he lifts his torso up, pushes on his arms and… fails miserably.

If it weren't _him_ there, and if she didn't know him that well after being first his partner, then his (best) friend for years before becoming _more_ , she would have most certainly just run away.

But it _is_ Jake, and she's well aware of how foolish he can act sometimes (that's one of the reasons she likes him so much, after all – how strange that can be), so the situation doesn't surprise her too long in the end. She's sure he must have a pretty good explanation to his weird experiments.

"Jake?" she simply calls his name then, though trying not to burst into laughter too hard as another attempt to get him out of… whatever he's doing here.

"Ames!" he quickly presses pause on his video and hurries up when he finally spots her, standing a few feet away from him, watching him with wild amusement in her eyes (and a bit of tenderness as well). "I– uh– wh– I didn't know you were there," he looks confused, caught off-guard, playing with his hands in a sign of nervousness. "I was just… practising," he points to his computer to justify himself.

"Practising?" she repeats his word, a small giggle escaping her throat at the same time.

"Yeah. Remember that one time Terry said I was too old to learn how to do the worm about like, two years ago?" he asks, as if it weren't some very random sentence the man would let out, of a time more than past.

(Apparently, it wasn't for Jake.)

"Absolutely not," Amy honestly acknowledges.

"Well, anyways, he told me that, and now I'm planning to prove him wrong. Wanna see?"

"Sure," she smiles, unable not to find him so adorable right now, all excited to show off his skills to her. She keeps it for herself that she saw him earlier, and that he didn't seem quite on point yet, though – she doesn't want to take the joy off his face.

He puts the video back from the start then, and lies down on the floor once more. He looks up at his girlfriend and, before making any move, he informs her first, "I actually plan on doing it from standing up, but, y'know… baby steps."

"I see," Amy bites on the inside of her cheeks as she answers him – it's so hard for her to stay serious in such a silly situation. Especially when he eventually launches himself into it and…

… bumps his head onto the floor _again_ (not too hard, hopefully).

(One thing that is sure with this man, she'll never get bored – he's full of ressources.)

She doesn't really know how it ends up like this, surely with her offering to help him in his learning, but soon after that second failure of his, they find themselves both lying on the floor, every inch of their bodies touching as they're staying close to each other, leaning on the other and watching some videos of failed attempts at doing the worm, gently mocking those strangers.

It's not the kind of date Amy expected to spend in the first place when she got in here (it's not the kind of date she _ever_ expected to spend either, to be honest), but it ends up being better than any other thing, in a sense.

Because it's full of laughter, full of funny moments, full of _them_ , mostly. And that's certainly all that matters to her. They'll have plenty of time to share quiet dinners followed by snuggles on the couch in front of the television later, after all.

(In the end, it actually takes him two more years to get 'doing the worm' perfectly _right_.)

(And, on that date, when Jake, who's become her _fiancé_ by now, wakes her up at 5am in the morning with loud music coming from the living-room to repeat his moves one last time before the big show, she doesn't find it weird this time. On the contrary, she gets out of bed and watches him, still wrapped in a warm cover, and a silly smile lighting her features as a thought crosses her mind –

She wouldn't trade him and his rather peculiar ideas for anything – nor anyone – in the world.)

(She can't help but feel embarrassed later that day though, when he shows up in his joggings at the precinct, ready to show off his _finally_ learned skills to everyone, and particularly Terry, after exactly four years of practice, right when the sergeant told the rest of his squad of their ex Captain's recent death.

It's too late to warn him and make him stop in time.)

(He surely nails his 'do the worm' thing this time, though.)


	21. Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

**A huge shoutout to _okayokaycoolcoolcool_ on Tumblr for proofreading this one! Set some time in the future.**

 **(Title is, obviously, from Frozen's _Do You Want to Build a Snowman?_ song.)**

* * *

As Amy walks through the streets of Brooklyn, her feet leaving traces in the snow behind her with every new step she takes and her hands stuck deep inside the pockets of her coat to prevent them from freezing completely, all she can think about is the warmth of her house, and a good movie curled up between her husband and daughter under the covers of their couch with a warm cup of hot chocolate.

It's been snowing nonstop the whole day, she noticed from her office's window, so it's no surprise that the ground is now all covered in white. Naively, she had chose to walk to work that morning (thankfully the new house they bought a few months ago is not too far away from her new precinct) but at least she's leaving work relatively early – indeed, it's only 5pm and she can't wait to be reunited with her family.

Being a new Captain obviously comes with new responsibilities, and even though she loves her job and wouldn't trade it for anything it's not always easy for her to enjoy a quiet afternoon with her loved ones.

So she well intends to make up for it all today, knowing Jake took his day off to take care of their child, who is currently on Christmas holidays.

When she finally reaches her destination, she's surprised to see her daughter, all wrapped up in winter clothes, rushing fast towards her. "Mommy!" she exclaims before taking her in a big hug.

"Hey, baby," Amy happily greets the little girl as she tightens their embrace, and takes her in her arms. "What are you doing here alone in the cold?" she wonders.

"She's not alone," another voice in her back answers her question, and the woman turns, only to meet her husband's shiny eyes. "We didn't expect you to be home that early," he goes on, smiling.

"Daddy and I are building a snowman," the child informs her. "Wanna help us?"

Amy's actually freezing, but it looks like her plans of a movie and hot chocolate will have to wait.

Because how could she possibly say 'no' to her daughter when she's looking at her with such puppy eyes, the exact same expression her husband uses sometimes and she just can't resist?

(She's pretty sure he's the one who taught her how to do it, to get what she wants.)

(Or maybe she learned it all on her own, watching her parents. It wouldn't be much of a surprise.

She might be only 6, but Ana is a very intelligent girl.)

"Okay," she gives in, then, putting her back on the floor and letting her guide her towards the snowman further away in their garden, Jake following a few feet behind.

It's almost finished, the Captain notices when Ana proudly shows her the white man. It only misses its head. So, soon enough, the whole family find themselves working on it.

It actually takes more time than needed to build the last big part, interrupted by a merciless snowball fight, unexpectedly started by Amy herself. She doesn't care she can barely feel her hands anymore.

To see her child and husband smile as brightly as they are now, having fun, is all that matters.

She'll have plenty of time to warm up later.

When it's finally done, though, the little family take a moment to appreciate their work.

"I think it misses something," Jake exclaims all of a sudden, breaking the silence. "Be right back."

When he does, he has his badge in one of his hands, that he puts around the snowman's neck, just

like _he_ usually wears it when on duty.

"Here, it's perfect now," he proudly states, looking back at his girls. But Ana doesn't seem to think so – his idea gave her one of her own.

"No," she replies with a pout, then turns to her mom. "Can I take your hat mommy please?"

Amy is hesitant at first – she doesn't really like the idea of playing with her work clothes –, but gives in eventually when the two loves of her life plead silently.

While the child steps forward to put her mother's Captain hat on top of the snowman's head, her father comes closer to his wife, and puts an arm around her waist, tenderly smiling at her.

"Are you okay?" he soon loses it though, worry taking over, feeling her shiver against his side.

"Yeah," she reassures him immediately as she puts a hand on his chest. "I'm just cold like always."

For only response, Jake simply detaches himself from her for a few seconds, taking off his scarf and puts it around his wife's neck to hopefully give her some more heat. He strokes her upper arms to help as well, then, pulling at the tip of the piece of cloth, he takes her closer to him, making her break the short distance there is between their two bodies and steals her a kiss before welcoming her between his arms. She lets out a giggle at the gesture, just as she buries herself more into his chest.

She feels good, there. She feels like _home_.

(She _is_ home.)

"I'm glad you were able to come back earlier. We missed you today," the male detective whispers into her ear, and she can feel her heartbeat speed up at his words.

"I'm glad too," she looks up to meet his eyes. "I love you."

"I love you too."

They're about to share another kiss when Ana interrupts them, making them aware of her presence again. "Hey, look!" she exclaims, and the couple turn towards her, their whole attention back to the little girl calling them. "He's a real Captain now. Just like you," she tells her mother, proudly pointing to the snowman, completely done this time with Jake's badge around its neck and Amy's hat on its head.

A perfect combination of the two of them.

(Just like their daughter is, with her dark, curly hair and big brown eyes.)

"You were right baby," Amy says, taking one of her arms off her husband's to invite Ana to join them in their embrace, which she complies immediately. "He's perfect like this."

This moment is too – surrounded by her favourite people in the whole world.

Finally, the cold doesn't bother her _that_ much anymore.

(Especially when, after all this time spent outside, their afternoon ends just like she dreamed it – with the three of them comfortably and happily curled up and laughing in front of Ana's favourite animated movie with a cup of hot chocolate in her hands. She definitely loves winter now, she decides, after all.)


	22. A Break in the Finals (1-2)

**Part 1 of a two-parts Students AU. See part 2 under 'The Christmas Holiday Party.'**

* * *

"I knew I'd find you here."

Amy suddenly looks up from one of her Art History books when she hears someone take a seat at her table where she and her best friend are studying for their fall semester finals at the library.

"Jake?" she exclaims, watching the person that appeared in front of her with surprise.

"Am I… dreaming?" Kylie – the young woman's best friend – adds, mocking him. "Is that you, Peralta?"

It's true a library isn't really the place where the male student can usually be found.

Quite the opposite, even.

"Ha-ha," he replies with a fake laugh. "So fun. But don't worry, I didn't come to study. Don't need that to nail my exams anyways."

Both girls roll their eyes at that in a sync move.

"Of course you don't," the blond one whispers, more for herself than anything else.

As for Amy, she simply asks, curious, "why are you here, then?"

"I know how you are when you're studying, getting so caught up you forget to take breaks and eat," he turns his whole attention back to the one he's actually come to see in the first place, and smiles at her, then goes on. "I past by your favourite Polish place on my way to the uni so, as the awesome friend I am, I thought I could bring you a little something from there."

"You did?" the brunette seems startled, though sincerely touched, by the sweet gesture.

"Yep. I took the usual Santiago order: perogies, potato pancakes and… a cup of hot chocolate, as you like it," he hands her the bag, fully grinning now – he feels really proud of himself.

If she wasn't already surprised, she would be now, with how well he seems to know her and her tastes.

She stares at the young man in front of her with an affectionate look on her face for a little while, before she comes back to the reality of the moment, her stomach suddenly rumbling at the nice smell coming out of her bag and finally reminding her she hasn't had a true meal in the past hours.

"Oh my god Jake," she lets out after she takes a first mouthful of her perogies, enjoying it _a lot_. "I love you so much right now," she doesn't realise what she's saying.

His heart misses a beat at her use of words, but he tries not to let himself be too overwhelmed by it. He's soon back to joking then. "Yeah. I have that effect on people," he leans on his chair, sighing with contentment, a small smirk lighting up his face.

For once, Amy doesn't fight back with some banter of her own and lets him have it – he deserves this truce, after being so nice to her.

"Sorry Kylie," Jake quickly adds, though, looking at the other girl, remembering she's there with them as well. "I didn't know you'd be here. I would have taken something for you too otherwise."

(He's not really sorry, though.

Because his gesture wouldn't have had the same meaning, would have he done it for her too.

He only had _Amy_ 's well-being in mind when he went past the restaurant earlier. No-one else's.)

"Well, I guess I'll go grab myself a snack by myself, then," the blond stands up, nodding at her friend.

It's not like the other girl needs her right now, anyway.

She's even glad to have an excuse to be able to leave the two, finally – she has no interest in being the third wheel in their little romance.

(Even though they're 'just friends fooling around' if you listen to them.)

(Sure they're not madly into each other _at all_.)

Truly alone this time, Jake leans back on, and watches the brunette with his head resting on his hand.

"So…" he trails off, mysterious. "I know you're currently busy with school and exams and that's all that matters for you until it's over but with our holiday party coming up next week, I was wondering… where are you at with your Secret Santa? Have you already bought them something maybe?"

Amy stops in the middle of her meal, and sighs, perfectly aware of what turn this conversation is soon going to take – it's only the third time they're having it, after all.

"I should have known you wouldn't do something nice without a good reason for it behind," she seems a little disappointed. "But I told you, Jake. I won't tell you whose name I drew. Wouldn't be fair."

Truth is, even if she wanted to, she actually _couldn't_ let him know who she got. Because she got _him_.

And she's nowhere near having bought anything. Not that she didn't think of that.

In fact, she thought of it way too much for her liking, even preventing her of being 100% concentrated on her studies sometimes. And she still doesn't know what to offer him.

Of course some ideas went through her mind like, obviously, something _Die Hard_ -related. She's certain he would _love_ and cherish something like that. But anyone who knows him a bit – even people who're not real friends to him, just acquaintances – is aware of how much of a fan of these movies he is, so it would be like an easy way out. Which she doesn't want _at all_.

She wants something special for him. Something _personal_ , that would show she knows him well.

That would show she _cares_.

Because she does – a lot. Has had for awhile now.

More than she would ever admit, even…

"You're not funny," Jake pouts, which suddenly takes her out of her reverie.

He pauses a second after that, hesitation noticeable in his eyes, then adds in a more serious, and very sincere, tone this time, "and for the record… I didn't pick something up for you because I wanted to 'bribe' you. I just thought it would make you happy if I did."

She swears she can feel her cheeks turning read at the confession. "It did," she puts her hand on his on the table, squeezing it gently, and offers him a soft smile. "Thank you."

There's a short moment of silence during which the two students only stare at their entangled hands, lost deep in their thoughts, until Jake breaks it, looking around as he clears his throat.

He spots Kylie in the distance then, finally coming back towards them, and says, starting to stand up, "anyways, I took too much of your time already, I should leave you back to your studies. See you later?"

"Sure. I'll text you when I'm done with my exam," the brunette is a bit sad he's going away, but tries not to let it show too much.

He's right, though. She needs to concentrate on her work again.

"Oh yes, please, do," he prays her. "I'd love to read you brag about how you nailed it and finished it 20 minutes before anyone else."

They both laugh.

And, as Amy watches him leave, never letting her gaze off him until he's out of reach, heart pounding fast in her chest and a small rictus across her lips, she nervously tucks her hair behind both ears at the same time without even noticing it.


	23. The Christmas Holiday Party (2-2)

**Part 2 of a two-parts Students AU. See part 1 under 'A Break in the Finals.'**

* * *

"Guess who's coming to the party tonight!"

Jake enthusiastically sits down with his friends, joining them for a quiet lunchtime now that all of their exams are over and they finally are on winter holidays, ready to celebrate these events the same night.

"Well, us," Amy is the one who answers him; she doesn't quite understand his question and apparent and sudden excitation. "It's literally _our_ holiday party."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But I mean _other_ than us," he insists.

This statement seems to startle almost all of the members of their little squad – except for Gina, who remains weirdly stoic, despite what the student just said.

Indeed, that party, thrown at _her_ place, is supposed to be only them.

No one else than _just_ them.

Rosa is the first to finally put into words what everyone thinks. "Wait, there's other people coming?"

"Not just other people, Rosa," Jake doesn't seem even a least taken aback by his friends' reaction, and simply goes on with his explanation, grinning widely as he announces, "Jenny Gildenhorn!"

He seems so happy about it. After all, the young woman was his very first love, and _girlfriend_. And he knows for a fact (not that he's been stalking her, _not at all_ ) that she's actually single for the first time in years. Which means he has all his chances to try and make up for lost times with her again tonight.

A Christmas Holiday party is always the perfect time.

"What? How?" Amy exclaims after a few seconds of complete silence, each student slowly processing the news thrown over at us, really not expecting _this_ , of all things.

This night was supposed to be about _them_.

"The girl who broke your heart?!" Charles adds quickly after, defensive.

"Well, Gina and I were… doing some last minute shopping," the brunette explains himself – he actually praised the girl to help him find a gift for Charles, whose name he drew for their Secret Santa, after he forgot to do it earlier, "and we met her at the mall so we asked her if she wanted to join us, that's all."

"Seriously, Gina?!" Amy turns her attention to her other friend this time, visibly upset about something. "You didn't want me to bring Kylie but Jenny can come?! We don't even know her that much!"

"I do," Jake proudly interjects, but soon falls quiet when he meets the student's glaring eyes on him.

"Yes Gina," Charles supports Amy's words once more. "Why are you letting her come?!"

"Our moms are friends," Gina shrugs, still not a bit disturbed. "Plus I invited Kylie, finally. Half of the uni is coming anyway."

"WHAT?!" Terry is the one who takes the floor this time. "What happened to 'we want it to be private'?"

"Didn't feel like it anymore. Sorry."

She's not really, though. The redhead loves organising big parties.

The debate goes on for a few more minutes, anyone and everyone having something to add to the fire, especially regarding their Secret Santa and the fact that all this party was supposed to be about is to be able to exchange their gifts, but finally they manage to calm down and find an arrangement – they'll just have to take a moment in the middle of the night to offer their presents, that's all. Given the big amount of people expected to be there, their short absence wouldn't even be notice.

They all go back to happier conversations then, the incident soon forgotten.

One of them can't really stop thinking about it, though.

Indeed, as she looks at her purse, Jake's present carefully wrapped inside, Amy can't help but feel her heart tighten a bit inside her chest and be bumped about this change of plans. It'll ruin _everything_.

* * *

"Hey."

Amy's in the kitchen, filling herself another drink, when Jake joins her, two empty glasses in his hands.

"Hey," she answers with a small smile. "You need something?" she asks, pointing at the bottles in front of them – half of them have been consumed already, and it's not even midnight yet.

Which is kind of normal, given the number of people gathered in the venue Gina ended up renting for the occasion – they wouldn't have all fitted in her apartment otherwise. She didn't lie, when she said she invited half of their university to join them into celebrating the end of their fall semester exams.

(Some of those guys Amy has even never seen before.)

"Yes. I'll have two vodkas, please," he hands her his glasses.

"So," the brunette girl tries to engage conversation as she fills them, feeling awkward in the too-quiet, too-empty room. "How are things going with Jenny? Has she fallen for your charms again yet?"

Amy forces a laugh, but it doesn't sound real to her ears. Hopefully her friend doesn't seem to notice it, and simply informs her, "not yet, but…"

She doesn't know why (or does she?) but a weight lifts off her chest at this answer. She's dreading the moment Jake will come to his friends, all smiles out, bragging about how ' _we're back together!'_

Because that's what's going to happen, right? There's no way Jenny will walk past a guy like _this_.

(There is, though. _She_ walked past him herself those months ago, when she was still in a relationship of her own and he told her he wished something could happen between them – romantic-stylez.

And she's been mad at herself for that huge mistake everyday now.

Because true, she's not with someone anymore. And he isn't either. But _he_ moved on.

She became aware of her own feelings for him too late – blame her for it.)

"Are you okay?" he takes her out of her reverie, cutting himself mid-sentence talking in a concerned tone as he touches her arm to make her look at him. "You seem… vexed?"

"I'm… sorry, I just… remembered I forgot to put something in one of my exams today," she pitifully finds a terrible excuse to give him. He doesn't appear to catch her lie, though, since he only smiles.

"Hey, relax," he reassures her. "You're awesome, Ames. I'm sure you nailed it anyway. We're on holidays now – exams are over. So stop wondering about them and enjoy your night. You deserve it."

She manages a rictus in return, and tells him, sincere, "thanks, Jake."

"Anytime," he smiles back. "Shall we?" he shows her the way back to the main room.

She nods, and they walk out of the kitchen side by side, until Amy seems to notice something. "Wait!" she suddenly stops at the door's frame, inciting her friend in doing the same, searching her pockets for who knows what. "I think I forgot…" she starts explaining, but is soon interrupted in her speech.

Indeed, a high-pitched voice shouts from the opposite side of the room, startling them, "God, look!"

It's Charles, eyes shining with pure bliss as he points at the two students now that he has everyone's attention on him. "Amy and Jake are standing under the mistletoe! They have to kiss!"

In a same move, they look up to see little branch hung above them they didn't notice before, right in the middle of their two bodies, then turn back to each other, wild horror easily noticeable in their eyes.

"No, no, no, no," Amy is the first to react, denying with her head, her cheeks getting redder and redder with each new passing second and intimidated by all these people watching her – watching _them_. "I… it's not… no," she struggles finding her words, and seek Jake's gaze for help.

He's not in a better state as she is, though, opening and closing his mouth in search of something to say. So she takes a deep breath, closing her eyes, and firmly announces, "I'm not gonna kiss him."

Their audience doesn't seem pleased by it – they start booing her. She doesn't care, though, nor does she really hears them anyway, too focused on something else – she swears she could catch a glimpse of disappointment in the other student's orbs for a split second as well when she let out the words.

She's soon taken back to the reality of the moment by, surprisingly enough, Jenny Gildenhorn herself. "Come on, guys!" she insists despite their refusal. "It's tradition!" she tells them, then starts repeating the word ' _kiss, kiss, kiss'_ to encourage them, soon followed by all the other persons around.

 _Kiss, kiss, kiss!_

 _Kiss, kiss, kiss!_

With everyone pushing them like this, they don't really have a choice but to comply – they know their comrades won't stop, and leave them alone, until they actually kiss. Or magically disappear.

(Which is, obviously, not an option.)

It doesn't have to be a _true_ kiss anyway. A quick peck will do. So it's not so much of a big deal… right?

"May I?" Jake finally asks his friend, defeated, taking a step forward, trying to gently smile at her.

"You may," she agrees with a nod, and sighs in an attempt to keep her breathings even.

(Trying to sound like she doesn't _want_ it, and is bothered by the whole thing.)

It's all done in a few seconds, objectively – the student coming towards the girl and simply, but _oh so_ tenderly brushing his lips against hers, eyes closed as their mouths meet for the very first time.

It takes her way longer than that for her heartbeat to go back to normal, though, eyes still firmly shut.

It's overwhelming, this feeling taking over her whole body. For just _this_.

She can't quite picture what it'd be like then, to kiss him _for realz_. But she'd rather not think about it, because it's never going to happen, anyway. This was her first and only taste. A one-time thing.

For the sake of a stupid Christmas tradition – while it's not even Christmas just yet.

When she opens her eyes again, no one is watching them anymore, back to their own occupations now that they got what they wanted to see. So, after one last look and (pitiful attempt at) a smile to her friend, Amy _finally_ gains the room. "I'm just… I…" she searches an excuse, pointing towards it.

"Yeah, no problem," Jake hopefully lets her go, voice husky, and they part ways. He can't seem to be able to leave his gaze away from her the whole time she hurries towards her best friend, though.

"You guys would make such a cute couple," Jenny happily tells him when he eventually joins her (and another guy she seems to have gotten quite close to during his time away) and hands her her drink.

He looks back at Amy at his ex-girlfriend's words, and sighs.

How foolish was he to think he was over her. Because God, oh does he wish they be one – a couple…

* * *

"Ames, your turn. Whose name did you draw?"

As the evening is going on, the initial little group of friends decided it was about time to gather around together and reveal their Secret Santa's identity as well as offering their gifts. The young woman, who actually made a pretty good effort to avoid her giftee after the 'mistletoe incident' until now, tightens her grip around her package when she hears her name, then confesses, "Jake."

"Ooooh," he excitedly exclaims, acting like a child as he rubs his hands together, impatient. "I hope you got me something good," he jokes, wiggling his eyebrows at her, eager to get his present.

"Well, I hope you'll get the nod, and remember that night," she lets out a nervous laugh as she hands it to him. "Otherwise this might appear a bit odd to you…"

Jake frowns, all serious again following this remark, and very curious of what's inside his package – it's small, and light, and soft, he notices right away as he takes it. He doesn't wait long to open it, and soon comes face-to-face with a very cute crocheted tiger cub stuffed animal.

"I… knitted it myself," Amy lets her friend know as he carefully stares at it without a word – she can't stand the silence, afraid he didn't get it, afraid he doesn't _like_ it.

She should have gone with a _Die Hard_ -related thing, it would have been less stressful.

"It's Leon?!" he suddenly exclaims, eyes shining as he looks at her with a bright smile. " _Our_ Leon?"

Leon is the name they gave to the actual tiger cub Jake rented during a 'fake-date' night the both of them shared, when she lost a bet back in their first year of university and had to go out with him on the 'worst date ever'. It actually turned out pretty good, though – with a lot of fun at the top of a roof.

That's the night the beginning of their true friendship was sealed, too. A rather important event for the both of them, then. A night she's not going to forget so soon.

 _And apparently either is he…_

"Yeah," she giggles, all of a sudden reassured by his positive reaction. "That's him," she nods.

People around them don't quite understand what's happening here, but they don't dare interfering.

"That's awesome, Ames," the male brunette stands up to reach her. "I love it!" he unexpectedly takes her in a tight embrace, apparently very touched by her gesture, arms wrapped around her.

"Thank you," he says when they part, then looks back at the stuffed animal with an endearing rictus.

"No problem," Amy answers, blushing. "I'm glad you like it. And that you remember."

"Of course I remember! That was one of the best nights in my life," her friend admits.

The girl swears she can feel her heart melt in her chest at his statement. She soon has to regain a bit of composure, though, because this time it's her turn to get her gift – offered by Terry –, as the Secret Santa's revelations go on between the squad.

* * *

As the night is almost over, and the atmosphere inside the room calming down, slow Christmas songs are played all around the place, and some couples are inspired to take the floor now, moving in shared rhythm. Among them is one Jenny Gildenhorn and her (apparently) new boyfriend, whom she got even closer to while the squad was away sharing Christmas gifts, arms wrapped around his neck as they dance around. Jake is watching them from afar, flashs of a time of his past he'd rather forget coming back to his mind – it's the same scenario of her dumping him for another one all over again.

"I'm sorry I ruined your chances with Jenny," he's suddenly taken out of his reverie by someone coming over to him, and when he turns his head in the direction of the voice, he's startled to see Amy standing right next to him and looking at him with guilt in her eyes – if they didn't have to kiss earlier…

"You didn't ruin anything, don't worry," he kindly smiles at her. "She just… wasn't interested in me. Kiss or no kiss. And probably that's for the best anyway," he turns back to looking at his ex-girlfriend.

"Really?" his friend seems shocked by his words – he seemed to want to go back with her so bad.

"Yeah. I realised… I'm not really into her anymore," he confesses with a shrug.

 _You, on the other hand…_ , he'd like to add, but doesn't do anything of the sort. What's the point?

She doesn't like him back.

"Oh," Amy is only able to reply, before falling quiet again, and they remain like this for a few moments, watching the others dance without a word, and listening to the music playing.

 _You're all I need tonight_

 _Ooh ooh ooh ooh_

 _Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh_

 _Here above the Christmas lights_

Until the girl finally finds some courage stuck deep in her core.

"Well, if you ever need someone to slow dance tonight, I know somebody who'd be into that," she says playfully, to help le the words out more easily, when in fact she's never been more serious about something, inside.

He looks at her with a bit of startelement in his eyes first, then smiles. "Okay," he agrees to her implied invite. "Shall we, then?" he offers her his arm, and she obliges without any hesitation, giggling at his exaggerated manners playing the gentleman.

It takes them some time to adjust to each other's pace and the rhythm of the song (Amy's glad she got the idea to bring Teddy, her ex-boyfriend, to some dance classes when they were still together – that way, she's sure she won't break the sweet moment by stepping on _both_ his feet at the same time – something that happened already, unfortunately), but when they do, they look back up at each other, and doesn't dare looking elsewhere as they move around the room, only caring about the other.

"It's nice," Amy lets out eventually, putting an end to the silence between them.

Jake only nods in return, too caught up in the moment, and the beauty of the girl stuck in his arms under the lights of the room to say anything back. He's also afraid this is just a dream he's having and he'll soon wake up all alone in his tiny bed if he starts talking.

Because it _is_ nice indeed. He feels right, there. With her.

 _Underneath the Christmas lights…_

Soon, _too_ soon, the song comes to an end, and the students have to stop, and part. They don't want to, though. That's why, in a common, wordless accord, they keep their embrace tight even after.

They stare at each other for awhile, until they both take a step forward at the same time, a same idea, a same _want_ , a same _need_ coming to their minds, and they end the short distance between them…

And their lips meet for the second time this night as they share another kiss.

Unless it's _for realz_ , this time.

(When he _does_ wake up the day after, he's not alone in his bed. He's lying on a mattress in the middle of the rented venue with all his closest friends and Amy's right by his side, all wrapped up in her covers and clinging onto him to stay warm, her head hidden in the crook of his neck, smiling in her sleep. He knows then that his perfect night wasn't just another dream.)

* * *

 **Lyrics used in the end are part of the song _Underneath the Christmas Lights_ by Sia :)**


	24. Call it Love

**Soulmates AU. In which the time and place you're going to meet them appear on you as a tattoo.**

 **Written for the 4th anniversary of 'The Bet,' aka. January 14th, 2014 – the day Jake got obsessed with Amy forever.**

* * *

 **Call it Fate, Call it Magic... Call it _Love_**

Jake first learned about soulmates when he entered elementary school.

And, as soon as he was introduced to the topic, he found this idea of having someone out there – _your perfect match_ –, waiting for you somewhere, particularly awesome.

That is, until his dad left his mom (and him, in the process) about a year later, when he was only 7, and his first girlfriend dumped him for stupid Eddie Fung during his bar mitzvah at 13.

After that, he started thinking that this whole concept of love and soulmates finally wasn't that great.

Because of course the child he had been had always assumed his parents were meant to be together – he didn't know it was a special gift, something not everyone was graced with, so what was the point for him to have Fate matching you with someone else, someone supposed to be made just for you, if it ended in tears and pain and trauma like it did for his own parents – for his _mother_?

What was the point to fall in love with someone if they weren't your soulmate in the first place?

How could have he known Jenny Gildenhorn wasn't _the one_ when she made him feel like she did, and who was it then? How was he supposed to meet her – or him, for all that he knew?

To _recognise_ them?!

Soulmates sucked, according to him. The whole system was too complicated, and fucked up.

(He really should have listened more in class, instead of daydreaming about what his match would be and look like. Surely a lover of the _Die Hard_ movies and the Nets, just like he was.

That way, he would have known the answers to all of his internal questions.)

That way, he wouldn't have freaked out when, years later, on the morning of his 20th birthday, he woke up with a tattoo on his left wrist that surely wasn't there the night before –

 **397 Barton St., NYC, 1/14 10:38** , written in dark, indelible ink contrasting with his pale skin.

His mother told him everything there was to know about it with an excitation barely contained when he showed her the strange mark during dinner that day. "This, my son," she said with a grin, "is when and where you'll meet your soulmate."

And even though he was still skeptical at first, once she gave him all the details he'd been deprived of when he was younger, he started to change opinions on that particular topic.

Sure, he still thought it was a complicated concept – after all, even if the indications on his arm were rather complete, he didn't know the exact _year_ he would meet them (it could be like the next or in 10), or if he was supposed to meet them at 10:38 _am_ or _pm_ – which was quite the bummer for him.

But at least soulmates didn't seem to suck that much anymore.

* * *

Of course Amy knew about soulmates. She'd always know, growing up surrounded by them –

Her parents were soulmates, her three big brothers had their soulmark (one of them even had already found his match only about a year after it showed up on the back of his neck).

And obviously, she'd read _tons_ of books about them – not that it was her favourite topic, though.

Actually, on the contrary, she wasn't really keen about it, at first. Indeed, she didn't quite like the idea of not being able to decide whom she was going to spend the rest of her life with, even though there were no rules about not marrying your soulmate written anywhere – it didn't feel _right_ to do so.

Still, she got a bit worried that she'd be the only one in the family not having one when it appeared on her twin brother's skin in the morning of their 18th birthday, and hers remained totally immaculate.

"Don't worry, tiger," her father tried to reassure her then, putting an arm around the girl's shoulder while everyone else was looking at her brother Daniel, who was proudly showing off his back, where the new words were now written. "You know how these things work. Yours will come when it's time."

She looked back at him, thankful, and offered him a shy smile in return.

Despite all she could have thought about soulmates before, she hoped he was right.

And, fortunately, it turned out he was – just a few months later, on a beautiful Spring morning at the very beginning of June, _it_ was already on her right wrist when she woke up –

 **1/14 10:38, Barton St., NYC.**

She didn't waste even one second to show it to the rest of the Santiagos, exchanging a knowing beam with her father as she did so. Her time had eventually come indeed.

* * *

From the day he got his mark, Jake made it his new personal tradition to go down 397 Barton Street at exactly 10:38 am _and_ pm every January 14th in search of his soulmate – it really helped a lot that he was already a New Yorker, and that his boss let him do pretty much whatever he wanted to at work.

They, on the other end, must have not been from the place, or not get the chance he had with their own superiors, because they never showed up, at any of their possible meetings.

Until _he_ didn't either, stuck on a case at work, because his new Captain – Raymond Holt was his name – was nothing like his former one and wouldn't let the hopeless romantic he was go.

Not even in the name of love.

"If they're really your soulmate, they – and you – can wait one more year – this case _can't_ ," he told him in a voice that implied _no more argument_.

Which he never knew if it was true, because he actually never went back. He simply gave up.

He was so sure – could feel it in his core – that he missed his chance that day, that whoever they were supposed to be, he would never meet his soulmate, now. That he was going to die alone, with nothing else than just his work to keep him company.

(Funny thing is that he didn't even catch his perp, that day, on top of all bad things.)

(Not a great, reliable partner, then. His life truly sucked.)

Hopefully he could always count on his colleague and best friend, Charles, to cheer him up. More than anyone else, when the younger detective told him the story behind his tattoo, he got excited about it.

He didn't believe it was over for his friend. And he didn't wait to tell him so.

"It's never too late when it comes to love. You just have to be patient."

But Jake was tired of waiting.

* * *

Amy never went to the place indicated on her wrist, the first years after she got her soulmark.

She _did_ move to New York City partly because of what was written on it, though, when she graduated high school and time came for her to think about her future, and what she wanted to do next.

(Mostly because that's where all the best universities were, too.)

Still, even if she had the opportunity to check on them, being in the right city now, she never tried and met her match. She didn't want to, not just now. It was too soon, according to her –

She was too young.

Especially if he was going to be _the one_.

She needed to live her own life first – to be able to concentrate on her studies as much as she could (and wanted), without having to worry about a boyfriend as well – no, not just _a_ boyfriend.

 _The_ boyfriend – her one and only.

(Not that she didn't have any before, for that matter. She _did_ have a few stories with some guys. Even though she knew they were just that – flings, and would never become more.)

She simply believed that a few years were nothing compared to the rest of their lives together.

She believed the right time would come without her attempting to push it – that she would _sense_ it.

(She believed her soulmate would understand.)

And she was right. Because on January 14th, 2014, when she woke up, she felt something in her guts that told her _this is it_. This is the moment she has to go to 397 Barton Street, New York City.

This is when she's finally going to meet _them_ – whoever her soulmate is.

Good thing she doesn't have to go to work that day (another coincidence that makes her think she's right about this). And, even though no one shows up at 10:38 _am_ , she doesn't lose one bit of hope.

Because tonight, at exactly 10:38 pm, she's going to meet her match for _sure_ ; she's never been so sure of anything else in her whole life – not even that one time in 10rd grade she tried to prove her Math teacher he had made a mistake in his calculation, and he wouldn't listen to her, despite her insistence.

* * *

"Do you know what day it is? And where we are?"

While Jake and Charles just arrived at their stakeout point during an unexpected night of work – they have been sent out of a party they were all having with the rest of their police squad at their favourite bar after their boss got a call from some informant on a case, and he asked them to go check there –, the latter can't help but suddenly feel excited when he recognises the place they stopped at.

 **397, Barton Street** , is written in dark, big letters on the screen of the GPS of the younger man's car.

"Tuesday, why?" the brunette first replies, an eyebrow raised at his partner in question as he doesn't understand what the other means immediately – did he forget his birthday or something?!

(No. He would have heard one of their colleagues wish him a happy one at some point otherwise.

And Charles wouldn't look that thrilled if it were the case – on the contrary, he would be devastated.)

That's when realisation hits him then, when he catches a glimpse at the address in front of him.

"Charles…" he trails off. "You promised we wouldn't go down that path again."

"But Jake," the concerned man insists nonetheless. "Look at the odds: we've been sent on a stakeout at the exact same place written on your arm, at the exact same date as well, when we're not supposed to be working tonight," he enumerates the facts. "You have to admit there's a sign for you here."

He has to admit it, yeah. But he doesn't _want_ to. Doesn't want his hopes to come back up once more.

Not when he finally managed to accept that he missed his chance at love and happiness.

So he tells his friend, denying it all with a lame excuse, "That's just a coincidence."

He tries to sound convincing. He doesn't even manage to convince _himself_.

He crouches a bit more into his seat, then – all he wants now is to disappear, forever.

Be far away from this damned place and forget about soulmates.

When he sees from the corner of his eye that his colleague is about to argue more, he cuts him short with a sign of his hand before he has the chance to say anything. "Please, Charles," he pleads him, "can we not talk about this and just concentrate on our work?" He sounds pitiful, he knows that. And though the older detective doesn't seem pleased by the request, he respects it anyway.

After that there's a moment of silence between the two men, during which they just look out for their perps to show up without a word. Until someone comes to them – a woman, who seems lost.

She knocks on the car's door with a apologetic rictus, and Jake opens it to her. "Hello," he politely smiles back at her. "Can we help you?" he asks.

She studies them for a little while, surely to gauge if they're trustworthy or not. After all, the street is pretty gloomy – absolutely not the most romantic place to meet your designated love, was the man's first thought when he discovered it a few years earlier –, and they're all alone in there, she and these total strangers. Soon enough though, she seems to decide they mean no harm, since she answers him with a question of her own, "Can you tell me if this is indeed 397, Barton Street, please?"

Quiet until then, Charles can't retain his squeal when he hears her interrogation, and suddenly jumps into the conversation the other two were having without a warning. "It is," he informs the woman, but doesn't stop just there. "Why are you looking for that particular place on that particular day?!"

He must look terrifying, for someone who doesn't know him or why he seems so interested in her whereabouts all of a sudden, scrutinizing her suspiciously with a weird, scary grin and shining eyes.

In search of something on her – a sign – a _mark_.

Something that would prove his hunch is right. That this is _her_. His best friend's soulmate.

As a response to his comment, the bystander frowns, startled by such a question. For a few seconds she doesn't speak, before she tells him, hesitant, "This is… none of your business."

"Actually, it is," the detective insists and Jake assists, hopeless, to the scene happening in front of him – there is no stopping him as Charles takes out his badge, and goes on. "We're police officers on a job, and we need to know why you're here."

"Charles," his partner tries to argue – in vain. "Leave her…"

Surprisingly enough, _she_ is the one cutting him off, though, giving up on her privacy with a sigh.

"Okay, fine," she starts, and he can't help but try again anyway.

"You really don't have to tell him," but it's too late – she's already talking, sharing her story.

"I'm meeting with someone."

The brunette can't help but notice her blushing cheeks and shy rictus suddenly forming on her lips at the mention of this _someone_. He doesn't really understand why, but this image breaks his heart a little.

Or maybe he _does_ know why –

He had hopes that maybe, just maybe, she was there for _him_. To meet her match.

(Which was foolish for him to think anyway, because his car's clock shows it's only 10:03 pm.)

Now his hopes are down again; because it's clear she already found them, whoever they are.

And that they seem to make her really happy, from her current facial expression.

(He wouldn't have minded having her as a soulmate. She's truly breathtaking, he can see that, even in the dark of the night – but he shouldn't be thinking about that. It hurts more than it helps him.)

"On such a random street?" his colleague's voice suddenly takes Jake out of his reverie, as he still tries to interrogate that poor woman. "It must be someone _very special_ , then, huh?" he nudges.

She doesn't get it, though – only believes he's thinking she might be some sort of criminal.

But she doesn't have time to further explain herself and prove herself innocent, because Jake shouts his partner's name, severe, and glares a him, asking him to shush with just a look before putting his attention back to the stranger outside.

"I'm really sorry about my colleague," he begins apologising. "He's just… mistaken you with someone else. But we won't retain you any longer. You're right where you want to be – 397, Barton Street indeed. Have a good evening, ma'am."

Such an ending to that (stressful, she has to admit) conversation confuses her a bit, but she doesn't complain. She simply thanks the two men for their help, then quickly leaves the pair behind. When she's finally out of sight and earshot, the younger detective turns back to his friend and partner.

"What the hell was that?!" he asks, some anger audible in his voice, despite his attempt at keeping it low. "You can't do such things, she wasn't doing anything wrong, we can't interrogate her like this!"

"But Jake," Charles wants to defend himself. "I _had_ to. Isn't that obvious?! That's _her_!"

"Who? Our suspect, you think?" the brunette turns back into the direction of the fading silhouette of their latest encounter – there's no way _she_ did something wrong. He might not know her, but he's certain of that.

"Of course not," his friend surprisingly appears to agree with him. "She's your _soulmate_ ," he exclaims, as excited as ever now as he lets out the last word with a huge grin on his face. Waiting for his partner's reaction, wiggling his eyebrows in anticipation.

"That's impossible," the other breaks all his hopes of shared excitement, though. He sounds defeated, but soon regains composure. Seeing that Charles still looks skeptical, he adds, "Look, I'm supposed to meet them at exactly 10:38 – it's barely 10. Plus you heard her, and _saw_ her. The person she's meeting, it's clear _they_ are her the love of her life or whatever, not me, from the look she had mentioning it. Just face it, Charles, I missed my chance the moment I didn't show up three years ago. That's no big deal."

(It is, though.)

Of course, Charles doesn't believe that. He's an ever-optimistic and supportive man, after all.

He hates not agreeing with his best friend, but he _knows_ he's wrong there. So that's what he tells him.

To which Jake doesn't have time to counter more, because suddenly, they can hear a gunshot from above that shuts them both up in a second. They exchange a simple look before rushing out of the car, their own weapons out, ready to shoot back at their opponent if needed. And, as they look up to where the sound first came from, they manage to spot two shadows running away from a rooftop.

There's another one, too – a woman, it seems – crouched down with her hands on her stomach.

It's not hard for them to understand from the scene that _she_ was the one the criminals shot. Just like it's not hard for them, even from that far, to recognise the stranger they helped just a few minutes ago, as she suddenly completely falls down onto the hard floor of that roof – they must have hurt her _bad_.

Quickly, Jake turns to his partner. "Go after the guys," he tells him, and the latter nods in agreement.

"Yes. And you, go save your soulmate," he insists once more, which allows him a roll of eyes from his colleague, but he doesn't have time to reply with anything of his own – there's a life on the line, there.

Each of the two go their own way then: Charles towards where the men are now trying to escape, and Jake up the building in front of them. In his way up the stairs ( _of course_ the elevator doesn't work) he grabs his phone, dialing 911's number – there's no second to spare. Once he's passed the door to the rooftop, she's the first thing he lays his eyes upon; she's sitting against a small wall, visibly in pain and bleeding. She sighs in relief when she spots him too, and even manages a smile – even though all it actually looks like is a hurtful grimace more than anything else it's supposed to be.

"Hey, it's okay," he tells her once he's reached her side, and is now squatting next to her. "You're all safe now. An ambulance is coming, and my partner is out catching the guys who did this to you."

He watches her pale, worried face as he tries to be reassuring, gently stroking her arm in the process. "Let me take a look," he tells her then, eyes down to the wound on her stomach. She puts her hands off of it, obliging to his request. Apparently trusting him with her life.

And, even though he's kind of used to those things normally (given his job, it's really not the first time he's seeing someone hurt like this), Jake can't help but cringe at the sight. There's a lot of blood already. But he can't worry too long – he has to hide his concern behind a poker face soon enough, because he can see his reaction is starting to freak the woman out – which isn't good, obviously.

"You're gonna be alright. Everything's gonna be alright," he tries to make her look at him instead of the wound as he makes his promise. She doesn't reply with anything – only smiles a bit wider this time, hoping she can trust his words – hoping he's right about this.

Waiting until emergency services eventually arrive, and trying and changing her mind a little from what happened, he does what he does best: talk. "We never got the chance to introduce ourselves earlier," he begins. "I'm Jake. Jake Peralta."

"Amy Santiago," the other tells him in a weak voice, her face hardening a bit as she lets the words out of her mouth – it's clear she's hurting a lot, more and more each new passing minute.

"Nice to meet you, Amy Santiago," the detective replies as he offers her a tender rictus.

(They can't really see it, are too focused on the gravity of the situation to think about that now, but just as they give out each other's names, 10:38 strikes on their watches.)

As he goes on sharing stories with Amy, Jake notices how pale she is getting. He doesn't say anything though – doesn't want to worry her too much. Because it appears his ramblings are soothing her, from her softening expression with each new word he lets out (he even manages to make her _laugh_ , sometimes – and, even though he has to admit he loves the sound of it, he has to reprimand her when she does – ' _you're going to hurt yourself!'_ ). So he simply wishes for that damn ambulance to hurry up, afraid it'll be too late otherwise – her wound doesn't seem to want to stop bleeding.

"I'm… I'm cold," the woman tells him after a while spent in dire silence now, only listening to the man in front of her, trying to hang onto his calming voice. He looks at her then, concerned, and can see how shaky she actually is, and how she struggles keeping her eyes open and focused.

He doesn't hesitate a moment when he takes out his jacket to put it on her, hoping it'll be enough to warm her up until doctors come and wrap her up in covers _(why the hell is it taking so long?!)_.

That's when she notices it – the mark on his left wrist, the perfect mirror to the one _she_ wears on her right arm. The reason why she came here in the first place. The reason why she got shot too…

She wants to say something, to let him know that he's the one she was looking for, that they're linked together, but it's too late. She's becoming too weak to let coherent words out of her mouth.

And, for the first time since she got her tattoo all of those years ago, she thinks that finally, it might not have been a good idea to wait that long to meet.

Because maybe this 'all their lives together' she believed in so hard will only last one night – as hers will end on top of that dirty rooftop. She can't fight the sleep that calls her anymore…

By the time the ambulance is (eventually) here, Amy is unconscious, all wrapped-up in Jake's clothes as he watches over her, checking that she stays alive. He reluctantly lets her go, not allowed to follow her to the hospital, and watches the red-and-white truck take her away from him.

It's weird, that feeling growing inside as he watches her leave, not knowing if she's actually going to make it or not when he looks down at his hands full of _her_ blood once she's out of sight – her barely knows her, only just her name, but still there's this emptiness in his heart he can't quite explain.

"Don't worry, she's gonna be alright," a voice takes him back to reality – it's Charles who, after handing their perps to another cop that came in backup to take them back to their precinct ( _of course_ he got them), has come back to his friend, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder as he wants to reassure him. The brunette doesn't answer anything – simply wishes his partner is right.

Not only about that, but also about the fact that _she_ is his soulmate, and not just another random civilian they just saved.

* * *

She makes it alive.

Jake knows that because as soon as he arrives (late) at work the next day after a tiring night when he barely slept, too concerned about the woman, Charles tells him the great news.

And that he's going to see her again, too, since they need to take her statement, now that she's feeling better and awake. Well enough to answer questions, anyway. Apparently, it wasn't as bad as it looked like – even though she _did_ lose a lot of blood, the bullet didn't go too far, nor did it touch any organs.

He doesn't really understand why he feels so nervous, waiting in front of her hospital room for her nurses to go out and let them enter instead. Once again, it's not his first time doing this, so he has no reason to feel like this.

(He has. It's his soulmate after all – even though he doesn't know that. Not yet, anyway.)

She greets the two men with a huge, happy smile when they are finally allowed to come in, and it's all it takes for the detective to calm down – now that he's seen from his own eyes that she's doing _well_.

"I know you," she tells him, gaze locking onto his. "You're the cop who saved me!"

"That's me, yeah," he replies with a matching beam of his own. "I'm glad you're recovering already. But… that's not why we're here. We'd like to ask you a few questions about last night, if you don't mind?"

"Sure," Amy agrees, and extends one of her arms (her _right_ arm) towards a chair next to her bed as an invite for them to sit by her side. And, as Jake makes a step forward, Charles, him, doesn't move.

He just stares at her arm, eyes wide open.

Before his friend has the chance to ask anything, he's looking back at him. "I KNEW IT!" he shouts.

Startled by such an incomprehensible reaction, the other two exchange a strange look.

"Charles?" his colleague tries to calm him down by calling his name.

"Jakey, look!" he simply points to the woman's wrist then. "I was right," he proudly says. "That's _her_!"

"Wh…" the brunette wants to ask, but then he sees it too – the matching tattoo on her wrist.

All of a sudden, he's speechless and unable to take his gaze off of the mark.

He's had time to imagine their encounter tons of times in the past, but this – discovering who she is at the hospital after she almost _died_ in his arms – it never crossed his mind once.

As she follows the men's gaze, Amy finally understands what's happening here, and soon hides her hands under the covers, blushing and unable to meet the others' eyes now. She forgot she saw _his_ tattoo too, before blacking out, the previous night, until now that's she's reminded of it.

"You know what?" Charles breaks the awkward silence that fell upon them. "I think I forgot something in my car. Go ahead Jake, start the interrogation without me, I'll be right back in a few minutes."

The concerned man gives him a thankful rictus, before focusing back on the woman in front of him once they're all alone in the room. She finally looks up too. "So…" Jake trails off eventually.

"You're my soulmate?" they both ask in unison, which makes them laugh at their synchronization, until they lock eyes again with a shy smile. The detective takes off his arm then, putting it next to the woman's.

They remain like this, quiet, watching their 'joined' hands and mirroring tattoos on their wrists. There's so much to say, they don't really know where to begin.

Learning to know each other could be a good start, though – but the hospital isn't the best place to do so, especially when the brunette's on duty. That's why he ends up asking, "How long are they keeping you here?"

"Only one more night, hopefully," she informs him. "They said the bullet didn't go in too deep, and that even though I lost a lot of blood, the whole thing wasn't too bad in the end. They said I was lucky you were there, though. Even if it was more Fate than luck," she playfully adds.

"Good," he offers her a tender rictus. "Can I offer you lunch tomorrow, then?" he directly asks her.

She seems surprised at first, and Jake is afraid he's going too fast – but she's his soulmate, after all. And he's waited long enough to let her slip away from him again. But she quickly replies, laughing, "Shouldn't _I_ be the one offering you lunch?"

He frowns, not understanding her point, so she goes on, "You saved my life. Thank you, by the way – I realise I didn't have the chance to do it earlier," her gaze is so soft on him now, until it turns more serious, "And… I don't know if it was also your first time, but if you came the previous years searching for me… I'm sorry it took me so long to finally meet you. And that everything happened under such conditions."

"That's okay, don't worry," he quickly reassures her, putting his hand onto hers. "After all, what's a few years in comparison to the rest of our lives, right?" his words echoes her own thoughts.

She smiles, then, as she answers, "Right. So… lunch tomorrow, huh?"

"I mean, if that's okay with you…"

"That would be perfect," Amy agrees with a grin. "We have some catching up to do, after all."

They did indeed.

They want to say more, but soon ( _too soon_ ) Charles is coming back, actually too excited to stay away from the pair of soulmates for too long. Plus, they have work to do, and a statement to take – he's sure Jake hasn't started on it yet, having more important things to discuss with the victim.

Just before they're interrupted by the other detective entering the room, though, Amy speaks again.

"And, Jake?" she hails him.

"Yeah?" he watches her with raised eyebrows and a puzzled look.

"When I saw you and your partner in that car yesterday night," she confesses, cheeks turning red at it. "I was hoping it would be you."

He grins at her words, a warm feeling taking over his heart as he lets out as well, "Me too."


	25. Ain't No Party

**Inspired by a picture Andy posted not so long ago. The day after Jake's bachelor's party – and actually day of his _wedding_ with Amy.**

* * *

 **Ain't No Party Like a Bachelor's Party With You**

On the morning of the 15th of May, actual day of her wedding, Amy Santiago woke up to 15 missed phone calls and 46 new text messages – all of them sent during the previous night, and from one same person: her future husband, the one and only Jake Peralta.

She'd be lying if she'd say she didn't freak out when she first saw them. She was _sure_ something went wrong at his bachelor's party – there was no other possible explanation. He wouldn't have bothered trying to reach her otherwise, too caught up in having fun with his friends on this last night as a non-married man to think about doing so, and knowing _she_ would be busy with her own party as well anyway. She knew inviting Pimento wasn't a good idea. She liked the guy, that wasn't the problem – he just always seemed to bring any sort of problems with him when he was around, despite his original good intentions. She still remembered how his _own_ bachelor's party turned out. So, in her mind, all of this didn't predict anything good.

But then she unlocked her phone, and all her worries disappeared in a blink when she scrolled up all of the 46 messages, and read the very first one, accompanied by a selfie of Adrian, Charles and himself, all three of them rather well-dressed, and sent not long after the couple parted ways until they'd be reunited on the aisle the day after. She felt her heart soften just as she read the words he wrote afterwards:

 _Let's the party begin! Wish you were here too, tho. Love you. Have fun, babe!_

She remained like this, with her gaze stuck on his face for a little while, watching his smiley face staring back at her, and one rictus of her own spreading across her lips. They'd been separated for a few hours only, but she still missed him. Missed his presence by her side on this bed of theirs.

She didn't let the thought linger too much on her mind and therefore affect her mood, though – soon enough they would be reunited, and would never have to wake – and simply _be_ either, for that matters – without the other ever again. Because when they'd be reunited, it would be to officially be pronounced _husband_ and _wife_.

(To think that it all started with them not wanting to put labels on their relationship.)

(To think that it all started with them faking an engagement as well.)

(It was all very real, this time.)

With this new, _happier_ thought, she started reading the other texts he left her. They were all pretty much about the same topics, she quickly noticed. Indeed, in each and every one of the 45 of them, he either let her know about 1) how much he loved her, 2) how happy he was that they were getting married, 3) how much fun he was having (though not as much as if she were here too, he seemed to repeat that a lot), or 4) how much he missed her. She couldn't help but laugh throughout her whole discovery of the messages, heart beating fast with love for this man who was to become _hers_ forever soon, and actually being able to recognise all the different stages of his drunkenness by the way his writing abilities decreased with each new declarations.

Hopefully for her, she'd become fluent in _drunk-Jake-Peralta_ language over the years by his side, and so could (somehow) easily decipher him.

There were some other selfies he sent as well – in one of them, for instance, he was showing a glass of champagne, as if toasting, with the words _it's 00:00 – were gettin married tday!_ followed by a whole bunch of different emojis – most of them being heart-eyes ones, though.

Finally, in the last one, he was lying in bed, all by himself, and pouting at the camera, wearing a sad expression on his face. It saddened her a bit, too, seeing him like this. But soon she found her good spirits again when she read the remaining four messages that went with the picture:

 _Room's spinning_

 _Can you make the workd stop turnin?_

 _Stupid traditions...Miss ya._

 _Goodnighttt future mrs peralta;;_

And, just as she was about to now listen to the voice messages he seemed to have left her every time he called and she didn't answer, someone actually called her on the phone, and a smile showed up on her face again when a picture of her fiancé and her they took right after he popped the question those seven months ago already appeared on her screen as _he_ was the one calling.

"Hi babe!" he cheerfully greeted her when she picked up. "How're you doing? Had fun last night?"

"I am, and it was, great," she excitedly replied, both happy to hear his voice and remembering the wonderful party her friends had thrown for her – it had been all she'd dreamed of, and more. "How was yours?" she then went on – even though she kind of already knew the answer to that, thanks to his texts that had summarised his whole night to her as it went.

" _So_ good," he let out without having to think about it first. He quickly added after a short pause, though, "But I'm sure it would have been better with you too."

"Yeah, I figured that from all of your messages I woke up to," Amy said with a tender giggle. "I missed you a lot too," she confessed after a few seconds of silence.

"Good. Because there won't be any getting read of me after today," he joked, and she could feel his warm smile in his words – he didn't seem one bit ashamed of what he'd done.

They chatted for a bit after that, telling each other about their night apart and checking on some last minute preparations they both had to do, until they had to get prepared themselves if they didn't want to be late for the big moment. Before hanging up, though, Jake called out his future wife one last time.

"Hey, and Amy?" he asked.

"Hmmm?"

"We're getting married today!" his voice sounded like it still amazed him so much that this was true, and not just a wonderful dream he'd been having all along.

"We're getting married today," she repeated his words in agreement, her heart skipping a beat as realisation hit her hard. After years of relationship, and months of working this wedding out… it was finally happening – _for realz_.


	26. A Night to Remember

**Okay so first, I have to say, I am _super_ sorry for all the notifications you might have received today because I posted all of these 'new' fics.**

 **Especially if you're someone who followed me a long time ago because of my French Captain Swan fics and doesn't care about Brooklyn Nine-Nine haha…**

 **(You should, though, if you read that: this show is pure gold.)**

 **Anyways, it's just that for the past months, I've been posting all of my fics on AO3 but I wanted to have them all gathered together here as well, because it's easier for me since contrary to AO3, here they're all in one same big 'story.' Which allows me to see how many words I actually wrote in total.**

 **Plus this website is where I started sharing my stories so I felt like I wanted to come back here as well – let's call it a bit of nostalgia haha.**

 **Hope you won't mind too much, and maybe enjoy them, even though for some they're no longer really topical. This one is a canon divergence that takes place after 1x22, where Jake has been gone undercover for 3 years and not 6 months, and Amy wasn't dating anyone when he told her about his feelings.**

 **(It's also kind of the re-writting of the beginning of my CS fic _3 ans après_ haha – with big changes to make it more Peraltiago-related, ofc ;))**

* * *

It's almost been three years.

Three long, _hopeless_ years. Thirty-six months; one thousand, ninety-five days without news.

Without knowing when he'll be back. Or even _if_ he will be back eventually, someday.

All that amount of time since the night he left too.

Since his declaration, as he found her in front of the building of their precinct at night. All alone.

Talked about his fears of what might happen to him during this assignment, and then letting it all out…

 _I kinda wish something could happen, between us – romantic-stylez._

He knew it couldn't, though. Because he was going undercover. _That's just how it is._

After that, he meant to leave. Reminded her (himself) they couldn't have any contact anymore because of his mission, because he was supposed to have been fired. He added that America needed him.

 _Screw America_ , she thought. She needed him more. So she didn't let him go.

Instead, she kissed him right there on the parking lot, not caring that someone could pass by and see them, releasing into it all the feelings she'd repressed the past years.

She wished that as well – to have a relationship of their own.

But it was too late. _They_ were too late, taking their leap of faith only then. He was going away on a huge, dangerous assignment, and neither one of them knew when he'd be back at the precinct.

Still though, she praised him to take her to his apartment with him. "Take me home," she almost inaudibly whispered against his skin, eyes closed as she buried her head inside the crook of his neck.

One last night together, that's all she asked of him – of the universe that chose to separate them.

(One _first_ night, mostly.)

She knew there wouldn't be any tomorrow.

 _If this is my last night with you_

 _Hold me like I'm more than just a friend_

 _Give me a memory I can use_

 _Take me by the hand while we do what lovers do_

 _It matters how this ends_

' _Cause what if I never love again?_

He didn't hesitate one second to agree to her request, loving her indeed until the sun rose up, and its ray through his window forced them back into reality. They had to go separate ways.

No matter how much they wished they could stop time, right at that exact moment, and remain like this forever, all curled up inside his bed. It wasn't even that much comfortable, with its lumps and all.

But they couldn't care less about that. All they cared about was that they were _together_.

 _Let this be the way we remember us…_

She left, eventually, though. They didn't exchange much words, before Amy passed Jake's door one last time and he closed it behind her, ready to start his new, _fake_ life as a former cop.

(Oh so not ready to leave her behind for who knows how long.)

He didn't ask for her to wait, and she didn't promise she would either. There was no point in that.

It was just a night. A goodbye.

(A farewell.)

All of this happened almost three years ago. Amy hasn't seen, nor heard of her partner ever since.

She still misses him a lot, of course. Doesn't think there will be a day she won't, anyway.

Not until he's finally back and she knows he's safe and sound.

She somehow managed to move on with her life, though. Even found someone – Teddy's the name. He's a nice guy, and they have a lot in common. (He doesn't make her laugh like Jake did.)

But she's _truly_ happy with him.

Or at least, as happy as she can be with her colleague and most importantly _best friend_ away on some unknown mission, unaware of where he is or if he's doing okay.

There are some days, like today, when she can feel his absence more than others. Because today's her birthday, and she and all of her close relatives are gathered at _Shaw's_ to celebrate that event.

 _Almost_ all her close relatives, should she say, because of course _he_ is missing the party.

She's not the only one noticing it. Everyone does. After all, for most of them, he's their colleague too.

She knows she shouldn't think about it, put her hopes up, but she does it anyway – every time her phone buzzes as someone writes her a 'happy birthday' text, she can't help but pray for _his_ number to appear on her screen, or any other unknown number for that matter, as long as she recognises it's _him_.

He's smart, and full of imagination – she's sure he could find a way to reach her if he wanted to.

It's her third birthday without him, though, and needless to say it never happened before.

Still, she pitifully keeps holding onto that thought. It's the only thing that helps her go through her day.

"Hey, are you okay?" a voice suddenly takes her out of her sad reverie, just as a hand coming from her side presses gently at her wrist to make her look in its direction.

It's Teddy, sitting next to her on one of the booths in the room, apparently telling her stories she didn't pay attention to – probably something about Pilsners. Teddy _loves_ his Pilsners.

Seems to like talking about them even more, sometimes.

When she looks up at him, and spots the concern in his eyes as he's staring intently at her with his brow furrowed, she feels a pang of shame take over her heart. She shouldn't be thinking about all of this right now – instead, she should be enjoying the party _he_ took time to throw for her.

"I'm sorry, I just…" she begins apologising, then.

"I know," he cuts her off, offering her a tender, reassuring smile.

And indeed he does – she never _ever_ hid anything from him about Jake, from the start.

"But I also know what will cheer you up," he goes on. "What do you say we open your gifts now, huh?"

She's not so sure it'll help brightening her mood but she agrees anyway, smiling back at him. She's so relieved she found someone that much comprehensive. Surely it helps that he's also a detective, and therefore knows what it's like, to have a partner gone undercover without any information about them.

She takes the hand he offers her then, and follows him to the counter of the bar, where all her presents have been laid upon. She takes a seat on a stool, waiting until everyone is gathered around her to start opening them. And, as she's busy ripping off the wrapping of the first one, she catches from the corner of her eye Rosa and Gina exchanging mysterious looks and whispers, before the red-headed pulls her phone out and begins typing something on it.

She chooses not to pay it too much attention, though, putting her whole attention back to unwrapping her gift, excited to discover what it may be – it's from her best friend, Kylie, so she already _knows_ she'll love it to pieces, no matter what she bought. She repeats the process with the others, and soon she forgets it as she finds herself overwhelmed by all the thoughtful things her friends offered her today.

In no time she's opened all of them, feeling much better indeed (her boyfriend was right after all – it _did_ cheer her up a lot). Or so she thinks, because as she intends to stand and thank all of the people for their gifts and simply being here celebrating with her, Teddy stops her, forcing her to remain still.

"I didn't offer mine yet," he explains himself to her questioning look.

She frowns, looking back at the counter for a second: there's no packet left there. He doesn't seem to hold anything in his hands either, so she's a bit puzzled by his words, and what he might get her.

"We also have someo–… something else to give you," Charles intervenes, correcting himself at the last moment after Rosa hit him on the side to make him shush. He sounds, and looks, so excited, this only startles Amy even more than she already was because of Teddy. "A little surprise," the detective can't help but add, and this time it's Gina who puts an hand on his mouth before he lets everything out.

It wouldn't be the first time he blows a surprise by saying too much, after all.

Once again she can't linger too much on that, because her boyfriend takes her hand in his to bring her attention back to him. He seems nervous, she notices when she watches him again.

It makes her nervous, too, she has to admit. She's afraid of what's going to happen next.

He clears his throat before speaking, and smiles lightly at her.

"Amy, we have all the same interests," he says what seems to be the beginning of some speech. She smiles back at his words. They do indeed.

(Except for Pilsners. She hates his damn Pilsners.)

"We have so much chemistry. When we're together, it's like… no matter where we are, it's San Diego."

(Maybe they _don't_ have all the same interests, after all – because clearly, this is not the first city that would have come to her mind for such a metaphor. But she doesn't complain.)

After that, everything happens so quickly, she barely has time to understand it. Because one second he's talking to her, and the next he's on one knee, showing off a beautiful diamond in a little box to her.

Leading to the inevitable question, "Amy Santiago… will you marry me?"

She freezes, breathless, staring at him with big, surprised eyes.

Of all things, she didn't expect _that_ to happen tonight. And she doesn't know what to say in return.

She loves him – of course she does, otherwise she wouldn't have stayed with him for all those past months. But everything is going so fast. How is she supposed to know he's the one already?

Does she really want to spend the rest of her life with _him_?

She honestly doesn't know that. For the first time, Amy Santiago doesn't have any right answer to give.

All around her, the room starts spinning just as her head starts aching, and she can feel her heartbeat quicken with every new passing second in that too quiet room. It doesn't help that everyone is staring at her in a religious silence, waiting for her to let out a word ( _any_ word) and that Teddy is watching her with impatience and nervousness in his eyes in front of her mutism.

Hopefully for her, though, the others' attention is drawn away from her and towards the entrance of the bar when the doorbell suddenly starts ringing as someone comes inside. Instinctively, she turns her gaze towards the sound too, and almost falls from her stool when her eyes lay upon the figure that just arrived. She feels as if her heart is about to drop when she recognises him, a huge grin on his face that soon disappears when he understands what he's just interrupted: Amy being proposed to.

By some guy he's never seen before, during their five years of partnership.

(He just missed three of them, though. A lot can happen during that amount of time.)

(A lot _did_ happen, apparently.)

Finally, the birthday woman lets out a word – not an answer of any kind to her boyfriend, though.

Simply _his_ name, in a shocked whisper. "Jake?!"

That's him she can't seem to detach her gaze off, this time, all quiet again. She can't quite believe it. He's right here, a few feet away from her – her colleague, her partner, her best friend.

This is not just another dream she's having.

Tears start sprinkling in her eyes as she watches him, forgetting about everything around her – even her boyfriend, who's still waiting for her to react in any way to his question. She's so afraid that if she turns away from him, even if for just a split second, he'll disappear and be taken away from her again.

She can't risk that.

He looks both the same and so different. He's thinner, wears what looks like the beginning of a bear as well, and he's tired – _oh so_ tired. The thing that catches her attention the most, though, is the missing of something in his brown orbs. There was this glint before, that seems to have gone away.

This cheerfulness he always had within, no matter what.

Her heart tightens in her chest at the realisation – he must have gone through very dark times during his undercover mission, if those people managed to blow this light out. She wonders if it'll come back again, somehow – someday – now that he's back. If _she_ will be able to help in that.

She wants to hug him so much, right now, so tight, and let herself go inside his embrace.

She still doesn't make a move. He doesn't act like making one either.

No-one in the bar does.

It's like time has stopped the moment he passed that door and their eyes locked onto each other.

Images of their last night together come back to her mind in flashes.

 _His body on top of hers, the burning kisses to her neck that left a mark there for a few days after he left, her hand in his as they were moving in shared rhythm, their clothes scattered all around his room…_

(Hold me like I'm more than just a friend.)

(Take me by the hand while we do what lovers do.)

(It matters how this ends – 'cause what if I never love again?)

His last words, too, printed in her heart, going on a loop in her head any time she needed it before, and coming back now just like he is. _I'll be back, I promise._

And he did indeed – he kept his promise, no matter how long it took him too.

(Almost three years. Thirty-six months; one thousand, ninety-five days.)

Suddenly, all of this is too much for her to handle – Teddy's proposal, Jake's arrival… She simply can't take it anymore. Starts feeling like she's suffocating. She needs some fresh air, and she needs it _now_.

That's what she tells everyone, then, when she apologises to them and rushes out of the bar.

Leaving everyone behind.

It takes another few long seconds for things to apparently go back to normal once she's gone. Charles is the first one to speak again, screaming his friend's name as he runs into his arms.

"Jakey!" he's happy to be reunited again, even though they've seen each other earlier, at the precinct.

Even though he was part of the plan all along – was the one who talked the newcomer into doing it.

" _She's gonna love the surprise!"_ everyone from the squad seemed to agree on that.

He was skeptical to the idea at first, despite the temptation that such a huge entrance this could make – he already had waited three long years, he didn't want to waste any more second away from her –, but finally accepted. He should have listened to his guts, though.

Because it was clear now this was _not_ a good surprise that Amy enjoyed.

"I missed you so much," the older detective tightens his embrace, and Jake is taken back to reality.

Somehow, the scene manages to lighten the mood in the room, and everyone starts following Charles's lead, welcoming their friend and colleague back. Or almost everyone.

Teddy, who's finally stood up, doesn't care about Jake. He's watching him from afar, resentment visible in his eyes as he sips his sorrow away in one of his beloved Pilsners. Of course he knows who this is.

He just had to look into his girlfriend's eyes while she was staring at him to understand.

Understand that it's _him_ – the _real_ love of her life, despite all of her attempts at telling him that nothing more than just a one-night stand happened between them, and she just missed him as a _friend_ now.

He trusted her. He didn't need for her to make any excuses about her past. But it always seemed like _she_ did, every time he spotted her lost inside her own mind, watching pictures of the both of them.

And maybe she managed to fool herself with this lie at some point, truly believing she could have a life with someone else – romantic-stylez, that is –, he, on the other hand, wasn't blind. She'd never looked at him the way she looked at her partner when he entered the room. Plus, she ran away.

If that doesn't say something about her feelings…

"Hey man," someone eventually takes him out of his loneliness. As it happens, when he looks up from his drink, he finds himself face-to-face with the missing detective himself, who seems uncertain.

"I, huh–," he nervously rubs his hands together as he speaks. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for the bad timing of my coming back. Making it a surprise wasn't a good idea. At all. I see it now."

There's a moment of silence before Teddy answers, "Actually, I think it was a really good timing."

Jake raises an eyebrow in surprise. This is absolutely not what he'd expected.

(Actually, he'd expected him to just punch him in the face for daring come and talk to him.)

(But that wouldn't be the kind of guy Amy would choose to date, anyway.)

(Would choose to _marry_.)

(The thought alone breaks his heart, taken back to that moment he interrupted earlier.)

"It prevented us from doing something we both would have regretted in the end," he explains himself in front of the other man's startled look towards him. "After all, I knew she never stopped liking you."

The brunette remains speechless following this confession. Teddy's last words repeat themselves in his head, warming his heart instantly. Really, Amy stills likes him? She _never_ stopped?!

He so wishes that other man is right, and that she has indeed. Because he knows it's the case for him.

In fact, not a day has passed since she left his apartment that morning without he thought of her.

There's only one way of figuring that out, though. And it's to directly ask _her_.

That's why, after leaving Teddy behind, he manages to sneak out of the bar to go after his friend.

He has a pretty good idea of where she might be.

* * *

Amy is lying against a wall, watching Brooklyn's life from the top of a roof, her mind wandering about the recent events of the night. Teddy proposed to her. Right when Jake came back from his mission.

 _What a birthday full of surprises it was…_

And the night hasn't even ended yet. Eventually, she'll have to go back to _Shaw's_ , and apologise to everyone for bursting out. She'll have to face her boyfriend, and answer him _yes_ or _no_.

She'll have to meet her partner, and tell him how much she missed him during those three years.

She feels better, now. Can breathe evenly again, and think more clearly, appeased by the quietness of the empty street at such a late hour in the night and the cool breeze of air against her skin.

"I had a feeling I'd find you here," she's suddenly interrupted in her contemplation by a voice in her back as steps are coming her way, though. She doesn't have to turn around to recognise who that is.

Because who else than Jake Peralta could find her there? No-one other than him knows that place.

It's _their_ rooftop, after all. The place they went on a stakeout the night she lost their bet, a bit more than three years ago, back on that night of January 14th, 2014. When everything began between them.

When Charles told him he _liked_ her, and he understood what he meant by that when she started flirting with him, and he became obsessed with her forever.

(She liked him too, back then.)

(Still does, deep inside.)

She doesn't reply with anything, and in no time he's at her side, watching the horizon with her. "I like this place," he lets out once more when they're next to each other, and he offers her a knowing smile, to which she can't help but reply with one of her own.

"Me too," she says. She takes a pause then, losing herself into his brown orbs, still a bit shaken up by the fact that he _is_ here, before she turns away and shamefully adds, "I'm sorry I ran away."

He gently puts his hand onto hers in a reassuring move. She manages to lock eyes again with him and goes on with her apology, "I just… I suppose it was too much seeing you again after three years, and with Teddy's proposal happening at the same time, I… I simply wasn't expecting it."

"Yeah, that's why we call it a surprise," Jake's response is to joke, and Amy can't help but laugh along with him, which instantly sends a rush of light and happiness towards her core.

It feels so good, being back to _this_. Playing around with her partner and friend, just like old times.

Quickly though, he's back to being all serious again. "I'm sorry too," he apologises to her as well, and she raises an eyebrow in question. Why would he apologise? He had a job to do.

She'd never blame him for having to go away.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was back the moment my mission was over," he confesses, explaining his words, and she's even more lost than before. "I wanted to, I really did, but when I came to the precinct this afternoon and you weren't there because you had a day-off, the others told me about your party and thought it would be cool if I just showed up there unexpected – as a surprise. I shouldn't have said yes to this. I should have known better than thinking it could indeed be a good come-back idea."

This time, she's the one who squeezes their laced fingers to reassure him. "That's okay," she gives him a tender rictus. "I'm just… I'm just glad you're here now."

"I am too," he smiles back. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," she quietly agrees to his confession.

They fall back into silence after that. Amy takes a moment to _really_ inspect Jake while he doesn't look. He tries to hide it as much as he can, but she spots him yawning, and realise then she hasn't asked yet.

"How are you?" she lets out then.

He turns back to her as he seems a bit startled by her question at first, like no-one wondered about his well-being before. Undercovers, especially that long, could be quite the trauma, though –

She's read a lot of testimonies during his time away, enough to know that.

Who knows what he had to go through, or see, or even _do_ to keep his cover intact while he was among these criminals, and far from his friends and family, putting his life at risk everyday.

(She's not sure she ever wants to know the answer to that.)

"I'm gonna be okay now," he eventually tells her after a few seconds, not trying to hide his vulnerability.

He doesn't have to. Not with her anyway.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" she offers, but doesn't pushes him into doing it.

He nods, and once he's started on his story, he's unstoppable. It feels good letting all out. Often during his time away he wished he had someone he could share things with about what was going on.

(Often during his time away he wished he had _her_ to share things with about what was going on.)

When he's finished, and both have tears in their eyes at what he confessed, Amy's first reaction is to _finally_ throw herself into his arms. Just like she's wanted to from the moment he passed that door.

They remain like that for a while, not wanting to let go of the other. Not having to do so either, this time.

Until Jake breaks contact, and it's his turn to ask. "Tell me about your life."

So, she does. Lets him know about everything – from work, to her personal life, to…

"Are you actually going to agree to his proposal?" the male detective asks, curious, when she brings the Teddy topic.

"I… don't know," she nervously answers – she's not sure she wants to have this conversation with _him_.

But he insists nonetheless, "Why?"

"I mean, I'm not even sure he still wants to marry me after what I did to him," she feels ashamed about it. "How did… how did he look, after I left, by the way? Not too devastated, I hope?"

"Surprisingly, he didn't seem as devastated as someone who's been left by _you_ would be," he answers.

She blushes at his insistence on the word 'you.'

"I went to apologise to him, and we had a little chat," he goes on with his explanation of the events she missed. "He told me maybe this was for the better. He… he said he knew you still liked me."

He carefully watches her reaction, uncertain he should have told her that.

Her cheeks are turning even redder now, as she suddenly looks away. "I…" she wants to speak, but the words don't seem to be able to go out of her mouth.

In front of her silence, Jake tells her then, "Listen, I'm sorry I crushed his proposal, and made that so complicated for you now. It was never my intention. But if you love him, and want to marry him… then you should go and explain yourself. I'm sure he'd understand and give you a second chance."

He stops, hesitant, before adding in a whisper, more for himself than anything else, "At least he'd be a fool not to." Which makes her turn her gaze back to him again.

"He's a nice guy," she starts, finally finding her voice again. "I wish things would have gone otherwise. But it is what it is. And I'm not sure I want him to give me a second chance. I _do_ love him, but…"

Jake raises an eyebrow, waiting for her to finish her sentence.

"Thing is, I think he's right," she says after what seems like forever. "I think I… I think I love you more."

For the second time that night, he remains speechless. Simply grins at her confession, eyes shining in the dark. _Oh, how much does he love her too…_

"I need to break things up with him the right way," she's quick to add, though, probably afraid of how he might react to her confession. She doesn't want to break Teddy's heart more than she already has.

"Of course," the other detective nods in answer. "For the record, though – I love you too."

She smiles in return, some weight going out of her chest at hearing those words coming from his mouth. It's so hard not to go to him and simply kiss him right now, after all this time apart…

But suddenly, her phone buzzes in her pocket as she's just received a new message, and she takes it out. She's a bit surprised when she recognises the name on her screen: Teddy.

 _I left the party_ , the text writes. _You can come and pick up your stuff tomorrow from 6pm. No need to feel bad if something happens with your colleague tonight. It's over._

She would lie if she'd say she doesn't feel bad while reading it. But she feels kind of relieved, too.

Because it seems like she's totally free, now, like he said it himself.

She doesn't need more than just that to put her phone back into her pocket, and break the few inches still separating their two bodies before putting her lips on Jake's, arms wrapped around his neck to keep him close. Of course he is startled at first, but soon enough he's kissing her back, and hard, with his own hands at her waist for the same reason as her, and it's like the world is back on its axis again.

It's like he's finally _home_ again, despite coming back from his assignment a few hours ago already. _She_ is his home, after all. He's come to understand that during his undercover mission.

And he swears he won't leave it – leave _her_ – ever again.

* * *

 **If you want to read more of my stories, even though I'll surely continue to post them here as well now, or even just have a chat about that wonderful series that is B99, you can find me on AO3 under the same pen name than here ( _Kufikiria_ ) or on Tumblr, under the URL _b99peraltiago_ :)**


	27. An Harry Potter Book Night

**I'm in the middle of binge-watching _The Office_ (and LOVING it), and when I saw episode 5x01 the other day it inspired me this.**

 **Hope you'll like it :)**

* * *

"You're waiting for a call or something?"

For the past twenty minutes, Jake and Amy have been stuck in a police car, waiting for a perp to show up. The woman detective hasn't stopped sneaking small peeks at her phone ever since, her mind seemingly lost elsewhere as she didn't let out much words from the beginning of their stakeout either.

"Yeah," she sighs as an answer, putting her mobile back into her pocket, and finally looks back at her colleague with a desperate, annoyed expression in her brown eyes. "Remember Teddy?" she starts.

"Mmmh," the other nods, suddenly regretting his question. He's not so sure he wants to hear about the guy Amy's been seeing for a few dates now… just when _he_ had found the guts to ask her out as well. Too late, of course.

"Well, we're supposed to go out tonight," she goes on with her explanation, and he can feel his heart tighten in his chest at the words. He doesn't let it show, though, keeping a straight face as he waits for her to talk more. "I thought things were going well between us, we seem to have a lot in common, so I bought tickets for a 'Harry Potter book night' event but… he hasn't called me back since last time we saw each other, to confirm it's still good and he's coming, like he said he would."

"Nerd," Jake can't help but gently mock her and her plans as a first reaction. But when she glowers at him in return, clearly not amused, he quickly corrects himself, "I mean, that sucks. But there's still time. I'm sure he's just been busy with work or whatever and will call you later in the day."

 _He'd be a fool not to_ , he adds to himself. Because who would be dumb enough to pass on a date with _wonderful_ Amy Santiago when they got that chance?!

She manages a small smile, though still skeptical when she tells him, "Thanks, but I doubt it."

There's a pause then, during which she takes a short glance at her phone once more, and when she sees there's still no news from her date, she sighs again. "Why is dating so complicated?" she complains, and sounds simply defeated now. "Why say 'I call you back' when you have no intention to actually do it? That's such a rude move."

Jake wants to say something to cheer her up, seeing how all of this is affecting his friend, but he doesn't know what.

Or, he knows, but doesn't _dare_ to. He wants to tell her _he_ could come with her if Teddy doesn't show up and she wants, but he's afraid such an offer would be too intrusive, and only make things weird between the two of them. He can't really ask her on a date of his own right now either.

Unless…

"Well, if that's any consolation, if he doesn't call back, I can buy your tickets from you," he says with a smug rictus.

She watches him for awhile without a word, suspicious at his proposition. "You, at a book event?!" she eventually exclaims. "You don't even know a thing about Harry Potter."

"Hey, _that_ 's rude," he replies, pretending she hurt him with her assumptions (which are pretty much right, though, he has to admit – but still). "I'm trying to help you, here," he reminds her. "Plus I do know some things about it, I'm not a complete ignorant."

"Okay, then," Amy challenges him with a look. "Tell me _one_ fact you know about it."

She's sure she has him cornered with her question, but Jake doesn't seem to lose it one bit in front of her. On the contrary, that's with a huge grin he answers her, "Easy. The hero's name is Harry Potter."

"Seriously?" she rolls her eyes in return. "His name is in the title of every book. And _movie_. Everyone would know that!"

"Maybe, but you asked for a fact, and I gave you a fact. You didn't make it clear it didn't have to be obvious. So, I win."

He's smiling more than ever now, apparently very proud of him and his trick.

Amy sighs.

"No, but seriously, why would you want to buy my tickets?" she stares into his brown orbs, trying to understand his move here. "Aren't you supposed to be in 'crushing debt' or something? How would buying something you don't even care about possibly be something you'd want to do right now?"

"Well, I'm glad you finally asked," Jake replies. "It's not for the event I'm doing it – it's because I have _someone_ I'd like to take there with me. Someone I know for a fact loves Harry Potter, and who I've been waiting to ask out for awhile now. That would be the perfect opportunity."

The way he looks at her is so mysterious, piercing right through her core, never leaving his gaze away from her, she starts blushing.

"Oh…" the female detective remains speechless. Is he trying to pass her some kind of message here?!

Is he… asking _her_ out? For a second anyway, the crazy idea that maybe he's talking about her lingers in her mind. That would be such a cute move, if it's the case, though.

"You really don't have to _buy_ them," she manages to let out when she eventually finds her words again, then.

"Yes, I do," Jake insists. "That would be way less romantic if you'd just give them to me, y'know."

A light giggle escapes her throat at that. "Okay, fine," she searches her pockets, for the tickets this time, and hands them to him. Her friend seems hesitant before taking them. "Can I… pay you back later, though?" he asks. "As you know, I'm in debt, and…"

"Of course," Amy agrees.

If he's going to do what she thinks he's going to do, he can well never pay her back, for that matters. She doesn't really care.

All she cares about is that he seems willing to go to an event he would normally call _boring_ and _dumb_ just to please _her_. A smile spreads across her face at the thought.

Who would have thought that of him?!

"Perfect," he finally takes the tickets, then his phone out. He starts searching for a name in his contacts' list, calling it when he finds it. "Wish me luck," he praises his colleague with a small rictus as he waits for the ringtone to stop, meaning someone would have picked up.

She furrows her brows in response. He's really taking the 'prank' very far – so much that she begins to wonder if she hasn't badly misread the signs here.

Which happens to be the case indeed, when she hears his voice talking to whoever the lucky girl it is on the other end of the line, "Hey, I've got two tickets for a Harry Potter event tonight. Care to come with me…? Perfect, I'll pick you up at 8 then."

Her smile, just like her heart and her hopes, instantly drops. How foolish was she to think he might be interested in her. She's just his friend – nothing else.

She's mad at Teddy, too. For making her believe during their past encounters it might be the start of something between the two of them. _Why didn't he call back?!_

Jake doesn't seem to notice her change of mood when he hangs up and thanks her, though. Probably because he's too happy about his date to wonder about anything else.

Hopefully for Amy, they don't have to talk more, because soon enough their perp finally appears, and they have to go after him.

At least work will help her forget about her desillusion, she thinks.

But it doesn't. Because as soon as they're back at the precinct, it seems like the male brunette can't help but brag about his date to everyone who cares to listen to him. _All day long._ Until, later, she spots him gathering his stuff to go home behind her computer, leaving a bit earlier than usual.

( _Surely to get ready for his date_ – she can't keep the thought away from her mind despite her attempts at doing so.)

As she discreetly watches him standing up from his desk, she believes she's _finally_ going to be quiet, though. Unfortunately, before heading towards the elevator, Jake stops at her own desk, sitting on it without a warning.

They're alone in the bullpen, and haven't exchanged much words since they came back, both busy with working on their paperwork. (Or so Amy said.)

"Soooo…" he trails off to catch her attention to him, and the woman sighs.

"What do you want, Peralta?" she asks without looking up to him, a bit of annoyance in her voice. "I'm trying to work, here."

"Just checkin' on you before leaving. Still no news of Teddy, huh?" he rubs his hands, weirdly nervous, as he speaks.

"Nope. And he better not reach me ever again, if he doesn't want to hear my thoughts on him standing me up," she still sounds really pissed.

"Great," is Jake's only reply, despite what she just let him know of, as he can't retain a relieved smile. That's when Amy eventually stops typing on her computer, and turns towards him.

"I'm sorry?!" she seems pretty shocked by his reaction. "What's so funny about this?"

"Nothing," he quicky answers, trying to contain his smile better this time. "I'm just… glad," he confesses.

"Why would you be?" his friend is as clueless as ever, eyebrows raised in dire surprise.

There's a short pause then, during which Jake closes his eyes to give himself some courage, before he tells her, "Because…" he starts looking for something inside his pockets. "I happen to have two tickets for a Harry Potter event tonight, and thought you might be interested in coming with me?"

"What happened to that 'wonderful girl' you were supposed to go with?!" is her only reply, though, suspicious and bitter.

She has no interest in being the second choice, out of pity.

But Jake doesn't seem taken aback by her reaction. On the contrary, he doesn't try to keep his happiness inside, now, and broadly beams at her when he explains, "The girl was you all along, dummy."

"But, you called…" she stutters, in shock – she can't quite believe what she's being told right now.

"I _pretended_ to call someone else. Really, you're the only person worthy of spending a night at some boring book event. I'd do that for no-one else."

She shakes her head, incredulous, and rolls her eyes, even though a small smile starts lighting up her face despite her own want. She doesn't know if she's supposed to be mad at him for breaking her heart all day long speaking about another woman, or simply be glad this was all just a ruse to ask _her_ out in the end.

It's a mix of both, really, when she eventually chooses to playfully punch him in the side as she lets out a menacing 'you…' that carries everything she has to say.

Jake lets out a laugh, before becoming all serious again, "I'm sorry. I almost blew it up right away when I saw how it affected you, but I was afraid Teddy would end up calling and you'd want to go out with him but couldn't because you'd have told me yes already, and so you'd regret it."

"Who says I'm saying yes?" she simply replies.

In front of her, the man suddenly feels very uncomfortable, and uncertain. This time, _he_ 's the one thinking he might have misread the signs.

"That was a joke, _dummy_ ," Amy adds with a laugh, after a little while of torturing him (he deserved it, she thinks) but not being able to do it for too long, and the other detective sighs in relief, laughing along with her. "Of course I want to come with you," she tells him. "Though we can go elsewhere if you prefer. I wouldn't mind."

"Are you kidding?!" he exclaims in return, feigning being offended by her words. "I made searches about the topic _all day long_ not to sound too ignorant. We're going there."

Amy's eyes instantly light up at his words and as she asks, too, "Oh my God, could I quiz you on the way?"

"Why not starting now?" Jake offers, and his friend squeals in excitement, turning her chair to face him completely this time, really taking this at heart.

"Okay, let's start with something easy. How many houses are they at Hogwarts, and what are they?"

The man can't help but smile as he watches her ask her question with pure bliss in his eyes.

 _How lucky he is to take out this gem of a woman on a date with him tonight…_

(Teddy really doesn't know what he's missing. But he's not the one who will feel bad for him. On the contrary.)

* * *

The day after, when he enters the precinct, everyone is startled to see Jake wearing a scar in form of a lightning on his forehead, and a pair of round glasses put on his nose, along with a wand in one of his hands – all things he bought at the Harry Potter event he attended with Amy.

And, as he takes a first step inside the bullpen, he proudly shows off something else that is in his other hand, excitedly shouting as he does, a huge grin on his face, "I just received my letter, I'm officially going to Hogwarts!"

At her desk, his colleague and date from the prior night can't help but let out a happy laugh as she watches him, memories of the moment they spent together coming back to her mind. Turns out, he _loved_ that book night way more than he thought he would – almost even more than _she_ enjoyed it.

(Not only because he got to kiss Amy Santiago goodnight when he took her home once it was over.)

(It _was_ the highlight of his night, though.)


	28. Can We Make This Moment Last?

**Jake and Amy share one last dance at the end of their wedding. 100% fluff and nothing else.**

 **This is from _Once in a Lifetime_ by Landon Austin.**

* * *

Jake doesn't quite know what he did in his life to deserve all of this – this day, this woman, this _everything_.

But, as he watches Amy going around the room in that wedding gown that fits her so well, collecting some glasses on her way to clean up a bit behind them as the night is coming to an end, sneaking him so glances from time to time, a huge grin that never left her features once during the celebration on her face, he can only be thankful for what the world gave him: this love that is now officially to last forever between his partner and him.

They're all alone now. It's late in the night (or very early in the morning), and everyone has left the party after congratulating them on their wedding one last time. Music is still playing in the background, though to a way lower volume than before, some songs perfect for a slow dance, Jake suddenly realises as he listens to it. A last dance, just the two of them, without anyone around this time to watch or disturb them.

(Not that they noticed them earlier anyway, too caught up in each other's eyes to care about anything else.)

"Hey," he takes his _wife_ 's hand in his as he approaches her, preventing her from gathering more glasses, and forcing her to put her pile back on the table. "We can take care of that later," he whispers to her when she meets his gaze in question, and leads her towards the middle of the room.

Cleaning things up clearly isn't part of the fun of _their_ night. Not for now at least, when he has other plans for her.

She smiles when she understand what he's doing, wrapping her arms around his neck while he does the same with his own around her waist, and they silently start moving around in rhythm to the song coming out. They don't need to talk to be on the same page.

It's calm, and soothing, and a very welcomed moment to let all the adrenaline of the past hours eventually cool down – it's been a rough day indeed, but in a good way. Weirdly enough, too, it feels like this is finally the moment when they can simply be together, when they barely let each other go throughout the whole ceremony and after party.

But they were never truly alone in their – at least not like they are now. There was always someone coming to congratulate them, or simply talk to them, friends or family members, all so happy about their union becoming official. They wouldn't trade any of that for anything, of course – they are the one who decided to go with a big party, after all, when they got so many chances to just elope during the course of the past months between the engagement and actually day of their wedding –, but still it's good to finally be able to enjoy being just the two of them, without interruption.

(Like Amy's brothers claiming it's their turn to dance with the bride, that his groom got enough of her already – how could he _ever_ get enough of the wonderful woman that is Amy Santiago, though?! – all of the eight siblings gathering around in a circle in the middle of the room, laughing and trying to match each other's steps more or less in synch to some song of their childhood, then inviting _him_ to join the round too, as a new member of their family.)

Slowly, when at first she had her eyes locked with her _husband_ 's, a matching smile lighting both their faces, Amy lets her head fall onto Jake's chest, closing her eyes as she lets out a long, happy sigh. She's safe in his arms. She's _home_. And if she could stop time somehow, she'd do it _now_.

As they're wrapped up in each other, only freshly married. Making this moment last _forever_.

She can feel her partner's heart beating against her ear, and his smile as he kisses the top of her head, and his hands on her lower back, keeping her close. It's by far the best feeling she's ever felt, and maybe will ever feel in her entire life.

(Giving birth to their first child will prove her wrong, a few years later.)

She's always found it a bit cheesy, before, all those people claiming that their wedding was the best day of their lives. Now she understands. It truly is.

At least when you're marrying your soulmate, like she just did.

For awhile they remain like this, slowly and oh so tenderly going around the dancefloor, until music suddenly stops, and their steps too. It takes them some more seconds to fully come back to reality, and detach themselves from the other a bit though without completely letting go. When they eventually do, they spot the DJ they hired let out a yawn as he finishes gathering all of his stuff, showing his want to leave the place and go have some rest.

"Well, I suppose that means it's time to go home," Jake finally speaks again, looking back at his wife with a small, tender smile on his face.

"I'm already home," she heartfelt beams in answer, and the man holding her can't help but simply kiss it off her face in return, his whole being filled with love at her words.

She's his everything. His once in a lifetime, for sure.

"I love you so much, _Mrs. Peralta_ ," he lets her know for the umpteenth time that night when they part, foreheads still touching, though.

"And I love you so much, _Mr. Santiago_ ," she jokes back, insisting on his last time just like he did.

(In fact, they decided to keep both names, unable to agree on which one to pick after the both of them won the bet they made on it a few weeks back.)

Eventually, they decide to leave the place, walking hand in hand towards the hotel room a few blocks away that they rented for the night.

And, once they're back in their room, it's another kind of being alone together they experience. Another kind of dance in rhythm, another kind of holding each other close.

But it's just as beautiful, and loving, and _perfect_ as the rest of their wedding day and night.


	29. Find My Way Home

**Jake is deep undercover in New Jersey when he goes into a car accident and finds himself waking up at the hospital, with no memory of who he is and what he's doing here. Amy is the doctor who's in charge of taking care of him.** **AU.**

* * *

 _Prologue_

"I'm sorry about your loss. I know he wasn't just a colleague, but also a great friend of all of yours."

"A _great friend_?! He was _the best_!" Charles cries, tears falling down his face and fists clenched at his sides in anger and desperation. Rosa, next to him, puts a hand on his shoulders, trying to calm her coword down. In vain.

Charles Boyle just lost his best friend, and he's inconsolable.

(The ninety-ninth precinct of Brooklyn just lost its best detective, and they're all in mourning.)

When the police squad under Terry Jefford's command saw two FBI agents gathered in their boss's office earlier this morning when they arrived, and spotted him discreetly removing a tear off his cheek, they already knew something bad happened.

Never would have they imagined the reason why they were suddenly asked to go to the meeting room would be to announce their partner's death in a fire.

He had been gone on an undercover mission for almost six months now.

"Are we sure it's him?" Rosa asks after some time, when the news have finally sunk in everybody. She can't – doesn't _want_ to – believe Jake won't be there anymore.

"It's too burnt to be recognised, but the corpse matches his. Plus we know for sure he was supposed to be there with some other members of the Ianucci family he was working with to take them down. I'm sorry," the agent repeats once more.

He truly hates that particular part of his job.

* * *

It's been a bay day.

A very bad, very _long_ and _tiring_ day.

It's 8:03 p.m. at the break room clock, and all Amy wants right now is to go home, lie on her couch with some Polish takeout to eat and watch Property Brothers until she's fallen asleep in front of the TV. Unfortunately she can't, though. Because tonight she's on a night shift.

Which means she won't be leaving the hospital any time soon – not before the next morning at the very least, to be exact.

She doesn't mind night shifts, usually. Working at night is a lot calmer than during the day, with normally less things happening in her medical service – it's like everything is moving slower in there. She has plenty of time to chat with her colleagues in front of a shared coffee without being disturbed too much by some emergency, then.

And, given that the two other people working with her happen to be her best friend, Kylie, and her boyfriend, Teddy… she generally enjoys the company, despite the tiredness that obviously comes with having to work late, sometimes doing one shift after another in the same day.

Of course though, tonight has to be different.

Of course though, there has to be an emergency that suddenly takes them off their well-deserved, quiet break.

The warning comes from their pagers' alarm, shining red against the whiteness of the pocket of their blouses. Requiring for their help, _fast_.

Amy is the first one who stands up, soon followed by her coworkers, all rushing towards the main entrance of the building without bothering to share more than a quick glance at each other. They arrive just when a man is being pushed inside in a stretcher and in the direction of the operating room.

From a first sight, he looks unconscious, and in a pretty critical state, with his face and dark hair covered in fresh blood and his right hand falling loosely on the side of the stretcher.

"What happened?" Amy asks as she follows the emergency doctors already taking care of him while checking on the new patient's vitals, not the least disgusted by the sight he offers with his cuts and wounds and more than likely broken bones. She's been working here for five years now, after all.

She's (quite unfortunately) used to all of this.

"Car accident," one of the emergency doctors, the one standing the closest to her side, lets her know of the facts. "Man ran the red lights and crashed into a truck. Was pretty bad, if we're to believe what's left of his vehicle. Luckily though, he was alone in the car and the only one who got injured."

Then, after a short pause, he adds what the woman already guessed when she first saw the wounded person, "Got a lot of broken bones, and internal bleeding too, as well as this pretty ugly open wound," he points to his stomach as he speaks, "We think he's compromised."

Amy swallows hard. It never gets easier, those things, no matter how long she's been doing that job. She doesn't think it ever will.

For only answer, she simply nods to the other doctor's words, wishing they're not too late.

That they're going to save this man.

* * *

It takes hours spent in surgery. But, when Amy finally leaves her patient behind at exactly 1:47 a.m. the next day after putting him in a room and checking on him one last time, she might be even more exhausted than she was before being called on the case, but it doesn't matter anymore.

All that matters right now is that _they did it_. _He_ made it. Her patient's _alive_.

He's still not waking up, probably won't for a while, but at least he's alive, and more importantly – not in any more critical danger right now.

* * *

The man turns out to be the perfect John Doe.

Indeed, he didn't have any ID card when he got admitted to the hospital. Nothing belonging to him was found at the scene of the accident either. His car was totally empty.

And, most surprisingly, no one seems to be missing him, since no one has reported his disappearance anywhere yet, despite them reporting him to the police.

They can't ask him who he is either, because he's still not waking up – it's been three days now.

So, for now, he's just a John Doe.

* * *

Three days turn into a whole week, and John Doe is still remaining unconscious after his car accident. Still no one has claimed his disappearance.

It really shouldn't bother Amy, who's been assigned to his case, because he's not her first patient who doesn't get any visits, and surely won't be her last either – those things tend to happen a lot more than imagined – but still, she can't help but feel bad for the man.

For not having anyone in his life that cares enough to notice his absence and search for him.

Everytime she walks by his room and catches a glimpse of his peaceful, sleeping, _lonely_ figure lying on his tiny hospital bed through the open glass, she can't help but feel a pang of hurt in her chest. She quickly continues on her way, though – she can't think like this. She's a professional, after all.

She can't start caring for her patients.

So she forces herself to only do what's asked of her: change his bandages when needed, check on his vitals and his drip, and then leave right away to another patient that also requires her care, doing the exact same thing with a smile plastered on her face and some casual words to them.

Sometimes though, at night, when she's in bed with her boyfriend, lying wide awake and staring at the ceiling, his arm keeping her in a tight embrace, she can't retain her thoughts from coming back and haunt her. "That must be dreadful, having no one who cares in your life," she lets it all wander aloud.

Usually, in those situations, Teddy only shrugs in return to her ramblings. He's so used to it now, he doesn't even have to ask what – or _who_ – she's referring to. He already knows.

"Amy, he's just another drunkard who took the road while on alcohol and risked everyone's life by doing so," he always replies the same thing with a half-asleep grunt, not even bothering to open his eyes – now's really not the time for such conversations. "I say he deserves it."

She should agree with him. She really should – because he's right, after all. But she can't.

* * *

Eventually, one day, it happens.

John Doe wakes up from his long sleep.

She's on her lunch break when her pager starts buzzing where she carefully has it fastened to her hip, indicating another emergency. She doesn't think twice when she stands up and rushes towards the room where she's demanded – _his_ room. When she arrives, she finds him surrounded by nurses, his body shuddering in fast, uneven movements.

First, from afar, she images he's convulsing, that something's gone wrong with him and his body his failing him. But then she enters, and her eyes lock with his terrified ones.

 _They're brown_ , is weirdly the first thought that comes across her mind when for the very first time in more than a week, he's looking back at her. She quickly recomposes herself, though.

Because soon the relief to see him finally awake is replaced by the new fear that they might not have gone through the worst as a nurse informs her of what's happening with that man – why he seems so lost and puzzled. "He doesn't remember who he is," she says, and Amy frowns at her words.

That's no good news at all.

She takes over the nurses then, coming closer to her patient, who seems to be on a loop – _where am I, where am I, where am I?!_ he desperately repeats the same question while looking around in search of something he knows – and puts a hand on his shoulder, trying to keep him still. He shouldn't be moving too much – he has several wounds that really shouldn't be reopened.

(And quite a few broken bones in different parts of his body, too.)

"Hey, look at me," the doctor asks him to lock his gaze on her in a soft, calm voice. "Look at me," she says several other times, until he finally does so.

When she knows she has his whole attention now, with his startled, tired eyes fixed upon her in a sign that he's listening, she goes on with her explanation. "You're at the hospital," she informs him, and she can tell from the sudden switch in his look that the panic is coming back, so she quickly adds, "But it's okay now. You had a car accident, but you're gonna be okay. We're taking care of you."

She offers him a tender smile, and he lets out a sigh, though still looking thrown.

"Can you tell me your name please?" she asks when she sees he's starting to calm down a bit.

A pause follows this question. The man facing her remains quiet as he seems to try and think about it – but after a minute, still nothing comes.

She can sense that he's on the verge on breaking down again at the realisation that he can't even answer such a basic interrogation about himself. "It's okay," Amy repeats, and puts a hand on his arm to prevent the anxiety to build up again in his chest – it's a chance she's an expert in such things, having to deal with them herself too in her own life. "You've been through a lot, and you've just woken up. I'm sure your memory will be back in no time."

He smiles back at her, then – a small, shy smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes, but a smile nonetheless – wishing she's right about that.

* * *

Days pass, and they soon have to come to the conclusion that she unfortunately isn't.

Even now that he's awake, Amy's John Doe still remains a John Doe, unable to remember about who he is, no matter what doctors try to trigger his memory, or the tests they run on him to discover what's wrong with him.

They give him medication, want to make him speak. But he doesn't seem to want to cooperate, closing off to everyone in the process. Not having any more clue about who you are from one day to another can be quite the scary experience, after all. But Amy isn't someone to give up easily. So she tries, every day, to get to him.

To help him want to remember. To help him re-learn things. Doing what she does and knows best: making a binder out of it, to gather all the information about him they need. Every progress – even the slightest ones, given how long such a work this can be – he makes with each new day passing by.

It's long, and very hard, especially at the beginning, but she eventually gains her patient's trust. She manages to make him talk to her, soon exchanging about everything and anything together.

* * *

"Hi Dora!" he happily greets her one day, as she enters his room for one of her usual daily checkups. He seems in a pretty good mood.

She frowns at his designation, though, concerned – he's supposed to know her name by now. She evens agreed on letting him call her Amy instead of just 'Dr. Santiago' after some time. "Who's Dora?" she asks him then, furrowing her brows in confusion.

"You," his smile only grows wider at his doctor's question. He doesn't seem to notice the puzzled expression on her face. "I figured if you get to give me a name, I do too."

Amy laughs, relieved. She doesn't really know how, nor when exactly it all started, but one day, as they were talking together, she began calling him Johnny. She never really liked 'John Doe.'

'John Doe' sounded too casual. Too… impersonal. It sounded like lost boys and no identity, while this man deserved one. _Everyone_ deserves one.

And he seemed to like it, when she came up with it – _a lot_.

"And so you came up with Dora?" she asks again, quite amused by his choice.

"Yep," he proudly states.

"Why?"

"I don't know. It suits you. Not as good as Amy does, but… y'know," he tells her.

She smiles again – something she's come to do a lot around him lately; the man truly has the ability to cheer her up, even after a long day of work – before finally concentrating on her professional duty, the true reason she came in here in the first place – and not to have a chat with her patient.

( _Don't start caring_ , a voice deep inside her head tries warning her.)

* * *

"Hey there! Is everything okay?"

When Amy enters her patient's room for the first time that day, she sees him curled up in his bed, his back facing her. This is strange, she thinks, since he always seems to manage to know when she'll be here, and cheerfully greets her when she passes his door.

Hearing her, Johnny turns to look at her, and lets out a sigh, complaining. "I'm bored," he tells her. "I've been awake and stuck here for a month already, I can't stand those dumb shows anymore," he points to the little TV in front of him. "And I don't even have premium channels. When will I be able to go out?"

"Not quite yet, I'm afraid," his doctor offers him an apologetic smile as she approaches, and starts to check on how his open wounds are healing as she speaks. "You need to remain in bed for at least two more months so that your bones can heal properly," she reminds him.

"That sucks," he pouts in return, then both of them fell silent for a little while, her patient watching Amy while she does her job on him. He lets out some cries of pain though, as she cleans his pretty badly wounded side, until he soon takes the floor again, his head now eagerly looking through the window.

"I bet you can see the fireworks pretty well from up the roof," he dreamily lets out, then turns to watch the woman next to him, staring at her with a broken look in his eyes as he goes on, hopeful, "Is there really no way you can take me up there, even only for a few minutes?"

Her heart breaks too at the sight of him looking so desperate. She wishes she could help him out, but unfortunately she can't. "I'm sorry," she says. "But no, I really can't. It would be against the protocole."

He sighs once more, only to sound more dramatic. He doesn't truly blame her. How could he? From the start, she's been a true light in the nightmare that has been his life ever since he woke up with no idea about what he was doing here, nor who he was anymore.

If it weren't for his doctor, he would have lost it already – long ago, even.

* * *

Johnny is lying wide awake in his bed when someone enters his room that same night. He slept the whole day, too bored to do something else, so now he can't sleep anymore. He turns around when he hears footsteps coming his way, and is quite surprised when he finds himself face-to-face with Amy.

"What are you doing here?" he raises a questioning eyebrow at her.

He's not supposed to have someone checking on him until the next morning. For a second there he starts panicking – is it possible something went wrong, some more bad news given by some blood test he's had? – but then he catches her smiling at him, and instantly calms down.

If there was a problem, he would have been able to tell by her reaction. She's not the kind of doctor who tries and reassures you before dropping the bomb.

His suspicions are quickly confirmed by her words. "I couldn't stop thinking about what you told me," she says, then lowers her voice as she approaches him, looking back from time to time to be sure no one's around. "About wanting to see the fireworks and leaving your room. I'm in, finally."

This shocks Johnny even more than seeing his doctor in his room in the middle of the night. "You are?!" he asks in dire confusion.

"Yes," her smile grows wider as she answers.

He opens his mouth in return, about to ask her what made her change her mind, but suddenly shuts it. He's afraid if she starts talking about it, she'll think twice about what she's about to do and change her plans because she'll regret what she's doing. He simply thanks her instead, gloating over how happy he is to eventually be able to go out after all these weeks.

He's missed that… _so much_.

Very carefully, making sure they go unnoticed all the way through it, Amy pushes the wheelchair she put Johnny in towards the closest elevator to his room, and then up the roof. He lets out a gasp when she opens the door and he can finally breathe his first gulp of fresh air after what felt like ages.

"I was right," he pleasantly sighs as he takes in the wonderful sight that the night lights of New Jersey are offering them. "This _is_ the best spot."

Amy simply smiles in return, placing his wheelchair next to a bench there, where she sits by his side. She's risking a lot by doing this, she can't help but let the thought linger into the back of her mind, but seeing him like this, as glowing as she's ever seen him ever since he was admitted to the hospital… it somehow makes the treason to her superior's trust and hospital's protocole a lot more easier to handle.

"It is beautiful indeed," she eventually talks after taking the time to truly watch the sky in front of them for the first time despite all the times she's been there already from the beginning of her career. "I usually only come here to shame-smoke a cigarette or two after a hard case," she goes on confessing. "So I never got the chance to really enjoy the view, but…"

She suddenly stops in her tracks, looking down, overwhelmed by the reminiscence of the times illnesses and accidents beat her at her job and took her patients away.

"I can't imagine how hard a job this must be," Johnny puts a hand on hers when he understands she won't go further with her explanation. "Dedicating your life to others. Thank you for what you're doing. For us. For _me_."

She looks up at him then, and sees him tenderly smiling at her as he intertwines their fingers together, and a rush of warmth comes taking over her heart. _Stop caring_ , the voice at the back of her head reminds her again, and she quickly looks away, taking her hand off his.

After that, they remain in an awkward silence for a while, thankfully soon distracted by the fireworks starting in the distance, which gives them something else to think about and put their whole attention on. Amy can't help but sneak a few glances at Johnny during the show, though, and she soon finds her smile again as she sees how happy he is to be here.

"So… what about the fireworks?" she asks in the middle of it.

He turns towards her, hesitant. "I don't know," he acknowledges. "It's like… I've been drawn towards them the whole day. Who knows, maybe I had this tradition of going to see them with my family and wanted to relive that again tonight even without knowing it? Is it even possible?"

Johnny doesn't know that, but he's just said the perfect words to make Amy completely relax, and not feel too ashamed of being here with him anymore, like she's been deep down from the beginning. Because if this little gateaway can trigger his memory… well, it means it's become a professional business now, and not… whatever it was supposed to be at the beginning.

Which means she doesn't have to feel too bad about it anymore, since she's taking him there for medical purposes only.

(Or so she tries to persuade herself of it.)

That's why she truly seems back in a good mood when she tells him, "Yes, it's very probable."

He doesn't answer anything, simply putting his attention back to the fireworks, and she watches him all along. It looks like he's doing his best to remember what this show means to him.

And, as she stares at him, she can't help but wonder what he was like before. If he really was just some lonely drunkard, like Teddy always says, or if there's more of his story to know.

Because now that she's learning more about him, spending each day by his side, she can't picture him as the bad guy. Even before that, she couldn't anyway.

She wonders if she'll ever know the truth, though.

If _he_ 'll ever know it, too.

But then the fireworks end, and they're surrounded by silence again, and Amy's taken out of her reverie by Johnny hailing her. "I think it's time to go," he's surprisingly the one to offer to leave, pointing out to the exit door with his head. "I wouldn't like you to get in trouble because of me."

Amy only nods in response, and quietly takes him back to his room, still making sure no one spots them on their way. As she's about to turn around, though, her patient stops her.

"Thank you for tonight," he tells her with a spark in his eyes she's never seen there before as he tenderly smiles at her, genuinely thankful for her gesture.

"You're welcome," she offers back, and then hurries out of his room, feeling the urge of getting him out of her sight the quicker possible.

* * *

"What took you so long?!" Teddy asks her when she tries to discreetly join him under the covers, wishing he was already deeply asleep and wouldn't ask any question about her whereabouts.

Of course he wasn't.

"I needed to take care of something at the hospital," she informs him, staying the more vague possible on purpose so that what she says doesn't come up as a lie.

She doesn't want to lie to her boyfriend, but weirdly doesn't feel like giving him the whole truth either.

"Something… or someone?!" he bitterly speaks again, and Amy watches him with wide opened eyes, all tiredness she felt leaving her body at once.

"What is this supposed to mean?" she wants to know what's behind his innuendo.

"I think you know," Teddy sighs. When he sees that she doesn't understand, he goes on. "Your patient, the John Doe. Everyone can see how close you're getting to him. Careful Amy, it's not good you do."

"I'm not!" she exclaims a bit louder than necessary, taken aback. "He's just my patient. Excuse me for being agreeable and trying to make his stay here less miserable," she's suddenly very mad.

"If you say so…" the man at her side doesn't try and argue with her, simply turns his back to her and goes back to sleep in a deep sigh.

Amy can't, though. She's not 'getting close' to Johnny, that's insane. She wouldn't even call him her friend. He's her patient, nothing else. She just wants to help him… doctor-wise.

 _Liar_ , the voice inside her head calls her.

"Shut up!" she lets out aloud, covering her head with her pillows, as if they could prevent her thoughts from taking over her brain.

* * *

When he wakes up the next day, Johnny is greeted by a new patient sharing his room. "Hi man!" he waves at him as he sees he's finally opened his eyes.

"Who are you?!" Johnny asks, suspicious. No one told him he was going to have a roommate.

"People call me Doug Judy," the newcomer cheerfully introduces himself. "And you are?"

"Here they call me John Doe," the other replies in a same voice. "Or Johnny, to…"

He stops, in search of the right word to use. Up until now, only Amy has called him like that. And what's Amy to him? His doctor, right. But he'd be lying if he said he only saw her that way. She'd grown up on him, as time went by and they learnt to know each other.

He doesn't really know if he can call her a friend, though.

(Let alone let the feelings he started to realise he might have for her the past night on that roof take over.)

"Whatever," he ends up saying, not wanting to think about it more. "You can call me John," he offers. "Why are you here?"

"I've been admitted for a broken leg," the man points to his right, wounded limb. "And enjoying the free food along the way," he then points to the plate put in front of him with a wink – that's when Johnny realises his is waiting for him to eat it right next to him.

Both men chat for a little more as they share their meal, and soon realise they have a lot in common, bonding over things. It really helps time go faster, having a roommate, Johnny thinks.

"Good morning you two!" Amy suddenly enters the room with a bright smile on her face, cutting them off in their vivid conversation. "I see you two go along quite well," she adds as she watches them, her smile only growing wider at the sight. "Good. I thought you'd like having some company," she turns to Johnny, talking only to him this time.

"You asked for me to have a roommate?" his eyes lit up at her words, warmth taking over his heart at her kind gesture.

"Well, after you told me you were bored and asked me to take you out but I couldn't, I felt bad, and thought about a way to make it up to you," she blinks at him in a knowing, secret way that catches the other patient's attention from the other side of the room, watching the two interact with sudden care.

"Thank you," Johnny heartedly answers with an amused smile.

"No problem. Now tell me, Johnny, how are you today?"

Doug Judy starts when he hears their doctor calling him like that. Finally, his stay at the hospital might turn to be more interesting than he first thought it would…

He listens to them interacting with each other all along, laughing and chatting all the way Amy takes care of him, and when finally she has checked on both of them and quits the room, it's with a voice full of innuendos that the newcomer turns to Johnny, and asks, "Soooo… she's the one who got the right to call you Johnny, huh? You like her?"

"What, Amy?!" Johnny lets out a nervous laugh in return. "Don't be ridiculous, she's nothing more than my doctor. I'm not into that. We're not close at all," he pitifully lies.

But Doug Judy isn't fooled. "Yeah, sure," he mocks his roommate. "Because everyone who doesn't care about their doctor calls them by their first name and flirts with them. She's cute, I'll give you that."

"I WAS NOT FLIRTING WITH HER!" Johnny yells, which only confirms the other's suspicions.

* * *

Finally, eventually, after three months and a half, Johnny's allowed to leave the hospital.

He's not entirely recovered, still hasn't got his whole memory back even though he's made some little progress, but he's doing well enough to be able to go out, and only come back for some required appointments with a therapist and an osteopath every two weeks.

Of course though, he has nowhere to go. No one to come home to. He didn't get any more visits while awake than he did when he was in a coma. Still no one has declared his loss.

Fortunately, like the northern light she seems to have been the whole time he was at the hospital, Amy's still there once he has to go. Her younger brother, Daniel, happens to be in search of a roommate for his new apartment, and she soon arranges a meeting between the two men, persuaded they would get along. Which they do indeed, quite easily.

Daniel wasn't really keen with the idea at the beginning, though. He only accepted because his sister insisted and knew perfectly how to be persuasive.

But he's worried about her. He can feel there's something going on with her. Going on with _them_ – with Johnny and herself. He could tell the moment she first talked about him during one of their weekly meetings over breakfast. There was this look in her eyes that didn't predict anything good…

She's never acted like this with any other patient in the past. She always remained very professional, never getting attached to any one of them. It's one of her main rules.

But it seems that with this particular guy, for some unknown reason, she broke it. And, when he tries to confront her about it, she doesn't have any good answer to give her brother.

"What does Teddy think of all this?" he asks then, curious.

Amy shrugs. "Teddy and I broke up a few weeks ago," she informs him, and Daniel gasps in shock.

It's the first time he's hearing about this rather important news. "What? Why?!"

"There was no spark between us anymore."

She lets out the words so matter-of-factly, as if it were nothing, as if she hadn't just ended a long-term relationship with a man she once thought maybe could be 'the one.' Apparently she was wrong.

She doesn't let Daniel know that, but as they speak, she can't help remember the conversation they had, with her now ex-boyfriend – him telling her the true reason she wanted to break up with him was Johnny. Because she liked him. And, even though she denied it at first, now she's quite lost.

Because maybe she _does_ likes him, after all.

(And maybe he likes her too.)

* * *

Though he's obviously happy to finally be able to leave the hospital, Johnny is also afraid that will mean he won't see his doctor too often now.

He's grown used to seeing her every day, to their daily chats, and he's sure he's going to miss it.

But living at her brother's place comes with its own perks. Indeed, she happens to have the habit of coming over quite often, checking out on the youngest member of her family. And, when he first thought that now that they were not patient and doctor anymore, maybe their relationship would change into something more personal, he soon understands it already changed before he went away.

She's been his friend for way longer than they would both admit; it then remains the exactly the same as it were before. And maybe even more than that – to him at least, now that he can think about it, without those professional labels stopping him. He's liked her for quite some time now.

(Ever since she took him up that roof that particular night, to be exact.)

His new shared apartment isn't the only place they meet since, as Amy clearly reminded him several times for him not to forget, he's supposed to go back to the hospital every two weeks for his appointments. And, if he doesn't really mind his osteopath lessons, he hates therapy. He doesn't like to appear vulnerable in front of some stranger – even though Helen, his therapist, is really nice and simply wants to help.

She's not Amy, though. No matter how hard she may try, she never seems to find the right words to go pass his walls like the other woman did those months ago.

"Johnny! What are you doing here?" he startles his friend one day then, when she enters the medical room where she's supposed to check on a patient. She looks at her planning, then frowns in confusion while she stares back at him. "We didn't have any appointment, did we? Is there something wrong?"

"No, everything's okay," he quickly reassures her when he sees she's starting to worry. "I just… wanted to ask you a favour," he shamefully lowers his head.

"Oh," Amy replies, suddenly feeling curious of what he has to ask of her. "What's up?"

"As you know, I've been seeing a therapist for the past weeks now, and I'm seeing her today," he begins with his explanation. The woman watches him carefully as he speaks – she doesn't know where he's going with his words, but he seems really nervous about what he has to tell her. "And… I was wondering if you could come with me, please?" he eventually lets the words out.

"Why?" is the doctor's only reaction, startled by his request.

"I'd feel more comfortable having you around," Johnny confesses, looking her right in the eye.

For a moment, Amy doesn't say anything in return. She only stares at him, studying him – she's never seen him that much vulnerable, and she's got to see him at his worst.

That's why, after a while spent in silence, she finally says, "Okay." Johnny releases a relieved sigh – he was really afraid she wouldn't want to do it. "I don't promise anything," she insists though, not to let his hopes up too much in case something happens and she can't come anymore. "But I have a break in 30 minutes. If no emergency comes up until then, I'll meet you there."

He grins in return, thanking her vividly. He wants to go and hug her for that, but doesn't dare doing so. Instead, he simply nods at her before leaving, going to wait for his therapy with his heart more lightly than it's ever been in such a situation, stress having left his whole body only by knowing he's not going to do this alone this time.

He's going to have Amy by his side.

And, when she arrives exactly 32 minutes later and joins the therapy under Helen's curious eye, Johnny speaks more than he's ever done so before, reassured by the gentle smiles and nods Amy gives him all the while, every time their eyes meet.

There's only one thing he doesn't admit out loud and keeps for himself only when the thought comes across his mind this day: he might be in love.

(And she might be too.)

* * *

"I never got the chance to properly thank you."

As almost every week now, Daniel, Amy and Johnny are having a movie night at the two men's apartment when the latter lets out the words to his ex-doctor. They're both alone, the young Santiago having left a few minutes earlier to go grab some pizzas. Amy turns to her friend then, confused.

"What for?" she asks, not really understanding what she did to owe his thanks.

"Saving my life," he simply answers.

Her heart misses a beat, and she smiles. "That's my job," she tells him. "No need to thank me for that."

"Your job was to take care of my wounds," Johnny turns even further into her side, watching her with a very serious look in his eyes. "We both know you did way more than that. You kept me sane when I was completely lost, even jeopardizing your entire career for me. And when you could have gotten rid of me for good, you found me somewhere to stay and start a whole new life."

The woman wants to argue to his speech, but he doesn't let her the chance to say any word. "Let me buy you dinner," he offers instead.

She freezes, completely caught off guard by his sudden offer. Her heartbeat gets faster and faster in her chest, as the question repeats itself in her mind. He is really… asking her out?!

 _No, he just wants to thank you, dummie,_ the voice at the back of her head comes back, and she doesn't know if it's a relief or a pain. She thinks for a few more seconds about it, then finally accepts. "Okay."

"Perfect," a wide smile appears on Johnny's face at her acceptance, and she can't help but smile back at him. "Tomorrow at 8, would it be okay with you?"

"Yes," she agrees, as it happens to be her day-off (she wonders if he already knew that).

They don't have to talk more about this, because soon after this conversation Daniel is back in the room with the pizzas, and sits between them on the couch. "Ready for a _Harry Potter_ marathon?" he asks, but none of them really pays attention to him, or the movies, too lost in their own minds for that.

* * *

She doesn't want to think about this outing with Johnny as a date, but still Amy finds herself knocking on her big brother's door, Luis, at 5 p.m. the day after, asking to speak with his daughter. Lisa may be only 13 years old, but she knows more about makeup than the doctor does, and she could use some tips right now.

The teenager is more than happy to help, and when they both get out of her room almost an hour later, the reactions from the family doesn't wait to come.

"Wow, Amy," her step-sister whistles when she sees her. "You look… wonderful."

"Thank you," both Lisa and herself answer in unison, and she blushes at the compliment, hoping this is not too much after all. Hoping _Johnny_ won't think it's too much.

* * *

She's quite the sight, in that red dress that suits her perfectly.

When he picks her up that night for their dinner, Johnny can't help but stare at Amy for a few seconds as she opens the door to him. He's always thought she's a beautiful woman, from the moment he laid his eyes on her for the first time when he woke up in that hospital room and she was the only thing that seemed to make sense at the time, the only person wanting to calm him down and answer his questions, but now that he actually gets the chance to see her wearing something else than her work clothes… she's simply and utterly breathtaking. "Wow, that's… really different from when you're wearing your blouse and keep your hair tied," he nervously jokes.

She seems a bit taken aback by his words, already regretting her moves, afraid she's misread the signs and she shouldn't have gone all out for him (he did put on an effort too, though, she notices – she thinks he even took time to go to the hairdresser), so she quickly answers, "Is it too much? I asked my 13-year-old niece for makeup advice but I don't know if I can trust her. She's so _sexual_."

He can't help but lightly laugh at her comment, before becoming all serious again, and tells her with a sincere smile as he takes her hand in hers in reassurance, "No. You look great."

She can feel her cheeks turning a new shade of red, just as the simple compliment manages to calm her down and make her heartbeat speed both at the same time. "Thank you," she smiles back at him. "You're not too bad yourself," she compliments him back.

"I know," he winks, and she rolls her eyes while she can't retain a giggle from escaping her throat. He laughs along with her, and when they're finally all quiet again, he offers her his arm.

"Shall we?" he proposes, and she immediately obliges, hooking her arm with his.

* * *

His lips are exquisitely working their way down her throat, heading south towards her almost-bare chest as her own hands wander on his back, her half-naked body trapped under his own, moaning under his expert touch.

She couldn't tell who got the idea to leave the restaurant first and head back to her apartment to end their night there. All she knows is that there she is, on her bed, about to have sex with her ex-patient become friend become _lover_ , apparently. And she's enjoying it. _A lot._

Though the dinner started quite awkwardly – after all, it was the first time they were seeing each other alone outside of the hospital, and it looked a lot more official than expected – they soon managed to fall into easy conversations (the alcohol the ordered for themselves helping) and then… into _more_.

It's not usually Amy's type, to have sex with someone right after the first date – especially when she wasn't even so sure it was one at the beginning. But then again, it's not her type to fall for one of her patients either anyway.

It seems like Johnny is able break every rule she has, and for once, with him… she doesn't even care.

She simply wants to enjoy the moment, without thinking about the consequences.

And, when she wakes up in his arms the day after, and they share a happy breakfast together, as if they'd known each other forever, she's glad she broke her rules for him.

* * *

Happiness doesn't last long, though. It never does.

Because only a few days after that shared moment they didn't have time to talk too much about since, Amy working almost non-stop, Johnny is back at the hospital.

Though not as a patient, this time, nor for one of his appointments. He's there to take someone in, getting in the ambulance he quickly called himself to accompany Daniel, who's apparently been poisoned, doctors informs him on their way to the hospital as he recounts what happened. And it's not any casual food poisoning, no… _someone_ put it in there.

More than ever it startles him, because this food his roommate ate was supposed to be _his_. _He_ was the one who ordered pizza that day. But, for some reason, he didn't feel hungry anymore when he got it, so he offered it to his friend. _Why didn't he want his pizza?!_

He _always_ wants his pizza.

It should be him, then, unconscious and between life and death in that hospital room.

* * *

After that incident, the New Jersey P.D. decides to reopen their investigation on his car accident, thinking that maybe it wasn't just that. It looked weird from the start anyway.

And, it turns out they were right to do so, because after some more research, they end up figuring out that indeed, this wasn't just some basic accident. Johnny had been set up, making it look like he was just another drunkard who took the road and forgot to fasten his seatbelt when apparently, someone clearly wanted – and still _wants_ – him dead.

They must have learned they failed the first time, and now are back to finish the job, trying to get to him by poisoning his food, but failing… _again_. Now they have to find out who's doing this, and _why_ , before it's too late and they finally succeed in doing what they missed the previous times: kill Johnny.

* * *

It ends up being him too, after all. The one ending up in an hospital room for injury.

As he waits for an update on Daniel's state in the waiting room a few days after the man's admission, he feels his side hurting. He hasn't had time to take care of his wound lately, too focused on his other problems. He doesn't pay it too much attention, though – it's happened more and more, but the pain has always remained quite bearable. Until it isn't anymore.

One second he's pacing back and worth the room, his hand pressing against his side to calm the pain down a bit but never stopping to check on it once, his head spinning and hurting and sweat falling from his forehead as he's feeling hotter and hotter, and the next he's laying on the floor, unconscious.

When he wakes up not so long after, he's lying in an hospital bed he knows all too well, with Amy by his side cleaning up his bad wound. She seems tired, and mostly irritated.

"What happened, why am I here?" he asks then, confused, and Amy barely stops to look at him. He sees her eyes lit up in relief at seeing he's awake, though, but it doesn't linger long, soon replaced by a more severe look. She presses on his stomach, and he lets out a hurtful cry.

"Why would someone try to kill you when you're so good at doing it yourself?" she eventually lets out in anger, finally watching him in the eye. "How hard is it to take care of that wound so that it doesn't get infected?! You're lucky you happened to be there, Johnny, otherwise it might have been too late."

He knows her well enough now to understand that behind that apparent anger, she's scared. Not only about his own health, but about her brother's too.

Suddenly, he feels ashamed for not having cared enough about his life – especially when someone is indeed after it. "I'm sorry," he tells her then, and she calms down a bit.

She doesn't say anything back, though. "How's Daniel?" he asks again then – he can't stand the cold silence between them.

"I don't know," and for the first time she lets her walls break a little, quickly removing a tear off her cheek with her sleeve. "They wouldn't let me take care of him, as he's family. Told me they'd keep me updated. But I haven't heard anything since – I was too busy trying to keep you alive."

Even more shame takes over Johnny's heart following her last sentence and this time, he's the one who keeps quiet, mad at himself for distracting her from her real worry here.

Mad at himself for making her worry about him more than she already is and should be, with some criminal apparently being after him. She doesn't need to add his stupidity to all of that.

* * *

"I need to give my John Doe case to someone else," Amy directly goes to her boss, one Dr. Ray Holt, right after she finishes taking care of the man in question.

"Why?" the man in front of her asks, looking up from his paperwork as she enters his office, his face as still as it's always been while he carefully studies her.

The woman sighs, then confesses. "Because I… might be in love with him," she lets it all out at once, choosing to be completely honest with him, after what she's already hidden from him regarding said patient in the past. She couldn't bear one more lie to that man she admires so much.

It's the first time she's saying it out loud. And, quite strangely, it doesn't freak her out as she thought it would – after all, admitting her true feelings could cause her a lot of trouble; but then again, not doing so, now that he's back as a patient at her hospital, might too. She simply feels relieved she managed to finally tell someone about it, and stop denying it all.

"Okay," her superior surprisingly gives her the short answer, not bothering asking for more explanation from her part. "I'll take it from here. Just leave all the files you have on him on my desk, please. I was going to have to, anyway, with the police now tightly involved in this."

Amy's heart tightens in her chest at his last words. Ever since she's heard the news of the sabotage, she couldn't sleep, too afraid something might happen to Johnny.

She couldn't handle it. Just like she couldn't handle something happening to her little brother either…

* * *

"Where's Am– I mean, Dr. Santiago?"

Johnny quickly corrects himself when, the day after, it's not the brunette woman that comes into his room to check on him but a man he's never seen before (but heard of a lot, he realises when he reads his name on his blouse as he approaches him: Dr. Ray Holt, Amy's idol and mentor). As he starts doing what's supposed to be _her_ job, he can't help but worry, and imagine something bad happened to her.

Holt looks at him, with no real expression readable on his poker face. "She's not on the case anymore," he informs him. "From now on, I'll be your doctor."

That doesn't help Johnny calm down – quite the contrary. "Why?" he asks again. "Is it because of me? I swear, everything she did while I was a patient here… she didn't want to. I forced her," he says – more than ever he's scared that what he made her do had somehow been revealed to her superiors and she got fired because of it. "She didn't want to take me on top of that roof," he goes on, panic easily audible in his voice as it's creeping upon him. "Please tell me you didn't fire her because of me?!"

"Fire her?" the other man seems startled by his words. "I wouldn't fire my best doctor. Even though she did disobey my command."

Of course their little escape didn't go unnoticed – it's an hospital, there are plenty of cameras there after all – and of course Holt knew all along. He was just waiting for Amy to confess her sins.

(It seems like Johnny beat her at it, though.)

Hearing that, the wounded man can't help but let out a long sigh of relief. Only until Holt speaks again, telling him what's really happening. " _She_ asked me to take her off your case."

"Why?!" Johnny's more confused than ever now. Why would she do such a thing?! He thought there was something between them, there… But maybe for her, it was just one night, and she regrets it now.

Or maybe she blames him for her brother's state. Or…

"It's a question you should ask her," his new doctor takes him out of his depressing thoughts.

* * *

He can't ask her, though.

Because it seems like she's avoiding him. She never comes by his room ever again.

So, one day, he decides to go and look for her himself. He misses her.

And he wants to know what he did wrong. Wants to apologise, too, if he hurt her in any way.

She's quite easy to find, sitting by Daniel's side in his hospital room, just as he expected she would be. She's not in her work clothes, he notices right away, which means she must have a day off today – and of course she chose to spend it with her unconscious brother to keep him company.

Hopefully though, she's alone in there. She told him how big of a family she had, someday, so he was afraid they would all be here with her, and he couldn't talk with her.

"I know I'd find you here," he calls her as he discreetly enters the room, as if not to disturb the sleeping man. It's silly, he knows, because it's not as if his steps are what will wake him up. And, if it did, no one would be mad at him for having woken him up anyway – on the contrary, even.

First thing he notices when Amy turns her gaze back from the other Santiago to him when she hears him is how tired she looks. She must have not slept in days, he's sure, eaten up by worry for her kin, and maybe for himself too. Soon though, wonder takes over the rest when she recognises him.

"What are you doing here?!" she exclaims, visibly upset to see him – not quite the reaction he's hoped for, to be honest. "You can't leave your room like that!"

He approaches her, and takes a seat by her side as he explains himself with a small, shy smile. "I wanted to see my friend," he confesses.

She remains quiet in return, watching him carefully. She doesn't know if he's talking about her or Daniel, right now.

Or maybe both.

For a while they stay like this, then, watching the man lying in front of them, with the constant (and rather annoying) "bip" of his pulse monitor the only audible sound around them.

"Don't worry, he's a Santiago," Johnny eventually talks again, and Amy turns towards him, her brown eyes drowning into his, waiting for him to go on. "He's tough," he continues with his speech, meaning every word he lets out. "He'll be just fine." He puts his hand on top of hers, gently squeezing it between his fingers in reassurance.

She squeezes back, and smiles. It's very small, but it's the first real one he's seen in some time, so he still counts it as a win. "Thanks, Johnny," she eventually answers.

She lets her head fall onto the crook of his neck then, finally accepting him in, and sighs. She truly missed him by her side. Everything seems easier when he's here.

Soon enough, for the first time in days, she feels her eyelids close, and falls fast asleep curled up against Johnny. He doesn't move, too afraid to wake her up if he does, and simply watches her sleep in complete silence. She needs some well-deserved rest after all.

* * *

"Where's Daniel?!"

Last time she closed her eyes, Amy was sitting on a chair, with Johnny by her side, and watching over her brother. Now, as she opens them again, she finds herself lying on an hospital bed, freaking out because Daniel is nowhere near and her friend is now sitting on a chair alone, and watching over _her_.

"Still asleep in his room," he quickly reassures her, bending towards her way to get closer.

"Where am I, then?" she asks again, more confused than ever at this explanation.

"In my room," Johnny shrugs, as if it were obvious.

It's obviously not to her.

"How– did you– _Johnny_ ," she calls his name, threatening, watching him with a severe look. "Did you carry me here?! It's not safe for your–…"

He quickly cuts her off with an amused smile on his features, not leaving her enough time to finish her sermon. "I didn't. Your boss, Dr. Holt, did."

She freezes, in shock. She doesn't quite know what to answer this. Soon though, she regains composure. "And you stayed there the whole time?" she asks, surprised. "How long have I been asleep anyways?" she tries to look at the clock to see the time since she seems to have lost all tracks of it.

Johnny is quicker than she is, as he tells her, "Just a couple of hours, and it's not like I could leave my room as I want to," he jokingly reminds her of her previous words from when she saw him come in Daniel's room earlier and freaked out. She sighs and rolls her eyes, but she can't help but smile too as her cheeks turn a slight shade of red.

He's all serious in no second when he goes on, asking her what's been bothering him for the past few days, "Why are you avoiding me, and asked to be taken out of my case? Is it because you blame me for what's happening to your brother? If so, Ames, I'm really sor–"

"No!" she quickly exclaims, cutting him off in wild horror. She's surprised he would think she takes him accountable for Daniel's health. Because she doesn't, not the least.

If anything, she should _thank_ him for being there when he got poisoned, and acting as fast as he did. He probably saved his life.

"Why then?" he doesn't seem to be ready to let go easily.

Amy lets out a sigh, trying to think of a way to say her true reasons. "I just–…" She pauses, closes her eyes for a split second in search of some courage, then opens them again and tells him while never leaving his sight, "I just can't work for someone I have feelings for," she eventually spills everything out.

Johnny's eyes lit up in an instant, and his heart explodes of happiness in his chest. That's so much better than everything he could come up with…

Because of course, he's got feelings for her too. He doesn't tell her so, though. He doesn't need to.

Instead, he only closes the small gap remaining between their two bodies, and tenderly places a kiss on her lips, to which she's soon to answer, her hands getting lost in his hair as she plays with the small curls there.

And, for the first time since he woke up those months ago, not knowing who he was anymore, as he kisses her, Johnny truly feels at home somewhere. _Between that woman's arms._

* * *

After a few more days spent in the hospital just in case, Johnny is finally able to leave (again). From that moment on, he's never quite alone, though, with police forcing to have him under protective detail until they find out who wants to harm him and why. And, when it's not them keeping him company, it's Amy, who comes and spends most of the nights at his place.

To be with him, of course, but also because it makes her feel closer to her brother in some ways, who's still in a rather critical state.

"What if in your real life you have a wife and kids?" she asks one night, when they're all curled up in bed, looking at the ceiling while she's lost deep in her mind.

Things are starting to get real between the two of them, after a few weeks of dating now, and for a few times now she hasn't been able to keep the thought out of her head.

She's worried that what they're doing is wrong.

"They would have searched for me if it were the case, don't you think?" he reassures her, stroking her arm as he pulls her closer, and kisses her temple.

She looks up at him, and offers him a small smile, before leaving a kiss of her own on his chest. He's probably right. She shouldn't bother her mind with such silly questions.

She simply should enjoy what she has as long as she can – this wonderful man by her side.

* * *

He thinks about it a lot, too. Of what is life was like, before he had this accident.

" _I think you don't want to remember your life, and that's what prevents you from making any new progress,"_ his therapist told him once, during one of their sessions. " _I think you're afraid of the truth."_

Her words lingered on him for a while after that. Of course he was. Of course he _is_. Someone wants him dead. And no one has ever been searching for him, from the beginning.

From the very few things he knows about it, it seems like his former life really sucked.

While his 'new' one, as Johnny… well, it's simple: he has Amy in it. And he wouldn't trade it for anything. Because he might not have told her how much she means to him yet, but she is his home. His true, only one that matters, home. He doesn't care where he's supposed to come from, it being New Jersey or elsewhere in the world.

Only _she_ is important. And he's afraid he's gonna lose her if he remembers. That he's not the man she thinks he is and ends up not liking the real him.

So of course he doesn't want to remember, deep inside.

Of course he's terrified whenever he thinks about it.

* * *

He ends up remembering, though.

It starts with some small, insignificant memories, nothing to linger on too much, until it hits him like the truck he crashed into all those months ago did. He wakes up in the middle of the night, all sweaty from a dream that looked – and felt – all too real not to be true.

His name, his job, his colleagues… _everything_ , including his dangerous mission he accepted to take part of without having to think it through.

" _Detective, we'd like you to go undercover and help us with the investigation."_

" _Okay, the answer is yes…"_

He remembers the Ianucci family, that secret meeting he was supposed to have in that warehouse back in New York, where he comes from, and how the plans got changed last minute, his 'fake friends' deciding to send him on another mission in New Jersey to prove his trust without leaving him time to warn anyone about it.

That's when realisation hits him too: they must have discovered he was a mole, and all that 'getting to New Jersey' thing was just a ruse to get rid of him.

As all these overwhelming memories come back to his mind, Johnny – or rather Jake, now that he remembers his real name – turns to the woman still deeply asleep by his side. The thing he dreaded the most is finally happening. She's not safe by his side, with all those criminals wanting him dead.

They will retreat from nothing before they're sure he's dead. And they'd clearly not mind for casualties.

What he does next breaks his heart then, but he reminds himself it's for the better. He can't risk her life too. He needs to call his squad and tell them what's going on – he's actually pretty confused as to why they didn't try and reach him, or search for him the minute they lost track of him.

A tear starts falling down his cheek and onto the note he's writing to Amy. When he's done, he puts it in evidence on her bedside table, gathers all his stuff, then stops next to her again for a few seconds, watching her, taking on her sight one last time before disappearing.

Maybe when all of this is over, he'll be able to come back, and explain everything. Maybe she'll forgive him. _Maybe…_

In the meantime, he kisses her on the temple, apologises to her sleeping form, and leaves like a thief without ever looking back, fighting against his better instincts.

* * *

First thing Amy notices when she wakes up the next morning is that she's all alone in bed. She's not too disturbed by this fact at first, even though the times Johnny woke up before her were rare, but still, it's plausible. It's not until she sees the note on her bedside table that she understands something's off in there.

She takes it in her hand then and, still not completely awake, starts reading it. _I remember_ , it's written. _I'm not worth it. I'm sorry. –Jake_

She's not sad, when she puts the piece of paper back where she picked it up. No, she's simply mad. And disappointed.

After all this time, after everything she told him, he should know by now who he was didn't matter. She only cares about who he is now, who he's _become_.

His past and memories of it wouldn't change that. Plus, he had no right to arbitrary decide he wasn't worth it for her, not even leaving her the chance to meet the real him.

All of this was _her_ choice to make; no one else's, let alone not _his_. But maybe he's right though, given how he's so cowardly acted, she thinks as she angrily rips off the note.

Maybe he's not worth it after all.

* * *

The minute Charles Boyle hears his best friend's voice through his phone, he starts crying, and doesn't seem to be able to stop, no matter how many times Jake asks him to focus, that what he has to tell him his very important. Deep down, he never stopped believing that the other detective was still alive, unable to think otherwise.

Having the confirmation that he's been right, though… it's a whole different meaning, hard to handle. He's been through hell during the past months without him, and doesn't wait to tell his friend that, as well as everything he's had in chest ever since he's been told that Detective Jake Peralta died in a fire.

"I know, Charles," the younger man tries to comfort him. "I've had quite a hard time myself, not remembering who I was. That's why I need you and Rosa to come down here. This mission lasted long enough, and broke us all more than enough too. It has to end now."

After that, Charles finally calms down and they can start thinking of a plan to arrest one of the United States' best crime families – or what little remains of it, actually, since contrary to Jake, most of them _did_ die in a fire after all.

* * *

 _Everything._

Jake, Charles and Rosa thought about everything while making up their plan to take down the last big member of the Ianuccis, the one who came with him to New Jersey and thus didn't die in the New York fire – the head of the family, that is –, first through the phone, then all gathered in a hotel room.

It seems like they didn't take one thing into account, though. One big, very important thing.

Amy Santiago, and how important she's turned to be to Jake over the months.

Amy Santiago, and how valuable a ransom she's become then.

Amy Santiago, whose picture one of the detective's ex-'partners' sends him as they're about to leave, taken from afar of her working at the hospital, with a text following the photography.

 _In our family we share everything – even our girlfriends. Especially when they're as hot as that._

Jake freezes when he receives the message, his heart stopping dead in his chest for a split second, dread taking over his whole being at the innuendo.

"Girlfriend?" Charles can't help but exclaim as he reads the text over his friend's shoulder, curious. "Jake, you have a _girlfriend_?!"

"Now's not the time, Charles," Rosa punches him in the side. "Do you know where this is?" she turns to her other colleague, pointing at the place where the picture has been taken.

He swallows, mouth dry, barely listening to what the two persons around him are saying.

"JAKE!" the woman shakes him up, then. "They're not gonna hurt her," she wants to reassure him. "But you need to tell her where she is. _Now_ ," she urges him.

That's how he eventually regains composure, and hurries out the room, not bothering replying with anything – simply showing them the way. There's no time for more.

Amy's life is in his danger.

* * *

It's quite the dreadful sight, seeing her like that. It's all his nightmares coming true at once.

There's a man by her side grabbing her close against his chest, one of his hands keeping a knife at her throat while the other is dangerously wandering over her body with a mischievous smile as he watches Jake dead in the eye – Leo's the name, he remembers the criminal all too well now.

"One move and she's dead," he prevents the three detective from taking another step when they finally reach the hospital, and catch him in the middle of trying to flee with Amy.

She's herself looking at them with fear and question in her eyes, and Jake hates himself for not being able to help her. For involving her into this.

Especially when he judges his options here; he only has two of them, both terrible: he can either not move indeed and helplessly watch this monster touch her, or try and reach her and risking him cutting her throat and letting her bleed out to death. There's really not one choice better than the other here.

But then, coming from nowhere, unheard, unseen, just when Jake's about to give up and trade her life with his own, hoping it will work, like a savior Dr. Holt arrives and catches the criminal's attention, loosening his grip from Amy only for a split second. A split second too much, because she manages to tackle him out, taking advantage over him.

(She told him once, she took self-defense classes.)

(He's never been so thankful for that in his whole life.)

She then jabs him with a shot of sedative drug she's keeping in her blouse, for when she has to deal with tough patients and needs to act quickly.

It takes Jake only a moment to rush to her side after that, taking her in a tight embrace, so relieved she's okay. Though he's deep asleep, he can't help but take her as far away as possible from that Leo man, for fear that he might harm her again. "I'm so sorry I left you like this," he apologies in a whisper, his head hidden inside her neck.

He detaches himself from her to watch her in the eye as he goes on with his speech. "This is exactly what I wanted to prevent by doing so."

"That's okay," Amy gently strokes his face, removing a tear that was falling down his cheek with her thumb as she does so. " _I_ am okay," she reassures him – and herself in the process – falling into his welcoming arms again. "I promise I am, Johnny. Or should I call you Jake?" she jokes.

He tenses against her at her last words, separating from her once again. He seems embarrassed and nervous, scratching behind his ear before he takes out his arm for her to shake, and introduces himself, as if they were meeting for the first time – which, in a sense, they kind of are anyway.

"Hi, I'm Jake Peralta, Detective for the NYPD," he reveals his true identity to her.

"Hi Jake, nice to meet you," Amy plays along and smiles as she takes his hand in hers before suddenly shaking her head. "That's stupid," she says, and he doesn't have time to ask her what is, because in no time she's back with her arms encircling his shoulders, scratching the few hair at the back on his neck and her lips are on his, kissing him with a new passion.

She needs him to know that no matter who he really is, she loves him all the same.

Jake's a bit startled by the gesture at first, not quite expecting it, but soon he finds himself kissing her back, so relieved to see he might not be losing her after all.

(Not right now, anyway.)

They're suddenly interrupted in their happy reunion by Charles, who's come out of nowhere and is now by their side, grinning broadly at them with excitement.

"Hi!" he enthusiastically offers his hand to Amy just like Jake did earlier. "I'm Charles, Jake's best friend. And future best man."

"WHAT?!" both lovers exclaim in unison at his last remark.

"Aren't you hearing wedding bells? Because I am," he points at the two of them, who are still wrapped up in each other, not wanting to let go now that they found themselves again, and Jake rolls his eyes.

"Charles…" he trails off, threatening, but the other man doesn't seem the least ashamed of his inappropriate assumptions. These two are clearly meant to be, he could tell from the moment he saw the look on his colleague's face when he received that picture earlier that day.

"Nice to meet you too," Amy eventually reaches out to him, preferring not ignore the rest of what he said. It's way too soon to speak about marriage.

For a few more minutes the three of them go one chatting joyfully, until Rosa intervenes. "Charles! I could use some help here, if you don't mind," she calls him back as she's struggling to put the still unconscious criminal inside their police car, ready to take him where he belongs: straight up to jail.

Jake and Amy find themselves all alone again then, but their happiness of being back together soon fades as realisation hit them, watching the other two work.

"So… this is it? The end? You're going back?" the doctor is the one putting their thoughts into words.

The man facing her sadly lowers his head, unable to look at her as he nods his response. He can't even say it out loud. He doesn't want to leave, doesn't want to leave _her_ , but he has no other choice.

He needs to close the case of his undercover mission, and his whole life – his house, his friends, his job – is in New York too.

(His whole life is right in front of him, though – it's _her_.)

(He can't tell her that. It would make things even harder than they already are, for the both of them.)

"I can stay the night, if you want," he eventually speaks up, sneaking a glance at her in the process, praying for her to accept.

He's not ready to say his goodbyes just yet. He doesn't think he'll ever be anyway, to be honest.

"That would be great," she offers him a small, shy smile that barely reaches her eyes. It's a pretty light compromise, but still a compromise after all.

She's not supposed to be leaving the hospital right now, though. She has to give her statement about what happened, now that the New Jersey P.D. has come to take over, and her shift isn't even over either.

"She needs some rest," her boss surprisingly intervenes when some detectives want to interview her, saving the day for the second time in the span of not even an hour. "She's still clearly shaken up. As her doctor, I say she can't make her statement right now. She'll come back to you tomorrow."

He gives the men a look that prevents them from arguing in any way, then turns to Jake. "Can I trust you to take her back to her apartment?"

"Of course," he doesn't hesitate one second, taking Amy's hand in his as they both walk away, offering Dr. Holt a knowing, thankful nod in return.

Before completely disappearing from the scene though, they make a stop near Charles and Rosa. "Is it okay with you if you finish up without me and we leave tomorrow?"

"Jake, don't worry," Charles puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "We take care of everything. You, only take care of your love," he winks at him while not so discreetly pointing at Amy by his side.

They both roll their eyes at that, but don't bother to argue, too relieved they can have one more night before the end. They truly have the intention to make the best of their last hours together.

* * *

As expected, saying goodbye the following day doesn't become easier after spending the night wrapped up in each other, sharing tears and stories (they have a lot to talk about, after all, with Jake regaining his memories) and _love_ all night long.

They try to postpone the dreadful moment as much as they can, staying in bed all morning, but eventually Jake has to go when he receives a text from Rosa telling him it's time, a flight is waiting for them. They keep quiet in front of Amy's door, not quite knowing what to say in such a moment.

Of all the things they shared during the past hours, they didn't really talk about their future. They knew they can't be together. With both their works, they would never be able to see each other.

This has to be a farewell.

"I–…," Jake eventually manages to let out a word, with his forehead against Amy's, and their eyes closed.

"Shhhh," she prevents him from saying what she thinks he's about to let out – she couldn't handle it if he did. Instead, she kisses him to make him shush, with all she has.

And then suddenly pushes him out of the door, and quickly shuts it. They would have never parted ways otherwise.

Still, they both remain on each side of it for some more time, already feeling the separation burning their cheeks with its tears and breaking theirs hearts.

Eventually though, Jake leaves, and Amy lets herself fall against the door as her tears fall from her eyes when she can't hear his footsteps drawing away. Never would have they thought saying goodbye would be so hard.

During the whole trip back to New York, Charles and Rosa try to cheer their friend up, but in vain. This time, he's the one in mourning – _inconsolable_.

* * *

 _Epilogue_

A few weeks later, the Ianucci family case is finally closed for good, and Jake is able to go back to work at the Nine-Nine. And, though he's happy to be reunited with his job and colleagues, there's still this hole in his heart that formed the minute he left New Jersey and flew back to New York City where he belongs.

(Where he truly belongs, though, is next to Amy. Which he never will be ever again.)

"Hi Jakey!" Charles comes and meets him at his desk, a mysterious smile on his face as he takes a seat by his side. "Doing something tonight?" he suspiciously asks him.

"Nope, nothing," the other detective answers, barely looking away from his computer and towards his friend as he does so.

"Great," the older man exclaims at his expected words. "You're free to have some drinks then?"

Jake eventually watches him as he apologies. "I'm sorry buddy, but I'm not feeling like going out those days," he sincerely confesses. He'd rather be alone, drowning in his sorrow by himself.

(He'd rather be with _her_ , but that's impossible. He has to move on.)

Charles insists nonetheless. "Come on!" he tries to make him change his mind. "You have to come, it would make no sense if you don't."

"Why would it make no sense without me?" the brunette asks, sudden curiosity creeping upon him. "Charles…" he trails off. "Are you trying to make me go to a surprise party for my comeback?"

"Noooo…" the other man denies, but he doesn't sound the least convincing to his friend. "Okay, you got me. There _is_ a surprise party."

The news doesn't seem to cheer the young detective up, though. On the contrary, he simply sighs. "I'm sorry," he repeats, "but I wouldn't be of good company."

Charles remain quiet for a short while, in search of something that would make him change his mind and come. Until it finally hits him, and it's with a broad excitation he lets out, "What if I tell you Amy will be there too?" It's already too late when he realises he's said too much, blowing off the _true_ surprise.

"What?!" Jake's eyes suddenly lit up, as his heart fill up with something he hasn't felt in weeks now – true happiness. "Amy will be here? How?!"

"I said too much already," his friend refuses to talk more. "You'll have to come if you want to know."

Seeing her again is still magical, despite already knowing she will be there. She's the first person he notices when he enters _Shaw's_ bar, at the centre of the crowd cheering him for his return. He only has eyes for her then, when he walks towards her, and doesn't waste any more second to take her into his arms and kiss her without even bothering saying 'hello'.

There's so much more he wants to say, things way more important than that, there's no time for small talk – he doesn't know for how long she's staying, after all. Plus, he's been dreaming on being able to kiss her again for weeks now.

"I missed you a lot too," Amy jokes when they finally part, and he stares at her with true bliss in his eyes, barely able to realise she's _really_ there, curled up against him.

"Wh– what are you doing here?!" he eventually asks the question that has been burning his lips from the moment Charles told him she was coming.

"Let's grab a drink first," she takes his hand in hers and leads him away from the crowd and towards the counter, where they order two beers. Then, when the bartender finishes serving them and leaves them alone, she starts her explanation. "I had a job interview today," she lets him know of the news.

Jake looks confused. He doesn't understand what this has to do with the topic, but reacts to her words nonetheless. "I didn't know you wanted to change jobs?" he exclaims in surprise. "I thought you loved it there. Wait," panic suddenly courses through his mind as well as one dreadful thought. "I hope it has nothing to do with me and what we did while I was your patient and they fired you?! That can't be possible, Holt told me he wouldn't fire his best doctor."

"He did?" Amy seems startled, and very touched, by her boss's view of her. "Anyways, I didn't get fired, no, don't worry," she puts a hand on his to reassure him, and it immediately calms him down. It always did. "Thought it had everything to do with you, yes."

"What?" the male brunette asks, more lost than ever. Amy lets out a small giggle at his expression.

"I saw Brooklyn's Methodist Hospital was hiring, and… I tried," she spills it out.

Jake's soon to react.

"You… you're coming here?!" he's afraid he didn't understand what she just told him well enough.

It sounds all too good to be true.

"Yeah," Amy agrees, happy tears starting to prickle in her eyes as she speaks, heart beating fast in her chest while she informs him of the news. "Couldn't leave without you, I guess," she admits.

Jake's only answer is to stand up. He takes her up in his arms, and kisses her as he spins her around in complete joy. And, when he finally puts her back on her feet, he lets the words escape her throat before being able to think about it. "I love you," he tells her, then freezes completely.

It's the first time he's telling it out loud – telling it to _her_.

"I mean… Noice. Smort," he tries to correct himself and playing it cool, afraid it's too soon for such declarations, but Amy stops him before he has the time to panic more, putting her hand on his chest to calm him down.

"I love you too," she confesses as she puts a tender kiss on his lips, and he can feel her smile matching with his own through it.

After that, they go on chatting for a while, updating each other on their lives. As Jake tells her about the ending of the Ianucci case, Amy lets him know about Daniel, who's woken up from his coma a few days after he left, and is recovering quite well now. She also informs her about her job in New York, a first step towards her biggest dream: to become the Chief Hospital Administrator of an entire hospital someday. Indeed, with that new opportunity, if she gets it, she would be promoted to being Head of Diagnostic Medicine – in charge of a whole medical team, all by herself.

And, as he looks at her with a loving smile on his face that doesn't seem to want to leave his features while she's vividly talking to him, Jake can't help but think he's never felt more at home in his own city than he is right now. With the woman he loves right by his side.


	30. I Won't Sleep ('Til You're Safe Inside)

**5x12 SPOILERS. Based on a picture of the episode released during the night/this morning.**

* * *

It's silly, really.

How being alone at night in her own apartment can so easily freak Amy out now. She used to live there without anyone for _years_ before – and it never bothered her once.

But things have changed, since that time. First, Jake came into her life – into her _home_ – and he quickly made her used to falling asleep curled up by his side, with the sound of his even breathings a soothing melody lulling her to sleep. Until Jimmy Figgis and Florida took that away from her.

Until _Melanie Hawkins_ and prison took that away from her.

Those eight weeks during which Jake was in jail were the worst nights Amy ever spent in her whole life, unable to find some rest, always wondering about how he was doing, and when they'd find a way to take him and Rosa out, and _oh so_ wishing for him to be there and take her in his arms, telling her everything was going to be okay.

But then he came back, and she was able to sleep well again with him next to her, never leaving her side ever again. Until tonight.

It's silly, really. Because it's so different now than it was then – she knows where he is, knows what he's doing, and saw him only a few hours ago when Captain Holt and herself came to see if he and Kevin needed anything and update them on the course of that Seamus Murphy case. She also knows this won't last six months.

Or eight weeks of being 'apart'. It's only the matter of a few nights – nothing more.

Still though, it's past midnight in Brooklyn and she's sitting wide awake on her bed, her wedding binder open by her side and carefully writing down things in her notebook instead of getting some rest after a long, _long_ day (and even evening) at work trying to find a way to take their opponent down.

She got the idea some time ago, after a whole hour of tossing and turning without being able to fall asleep, to start working on what she and Jake still needed to take care of for their upcoming wedding. But she has to admit, after a while, that it's not working – not the least. On the contrary, it freaks her out even more than she already was.

Because Jake isn't there to take care of those things with her and _maybe he's in danger right now and Seamus will find the safe house and there will be no wedding whatsoever because Seamus would have hurt him or_ … _or worse_. Damn what she thought were long-forgotten fears for skyrocketing back to her mind.

That's the last straw for Amy. As the silence around the room is making her anxious and driving her crazy, she puts her binder back in safety in her nightstand table and stands up. She takes a coat – doesn't even bother changing her clothes – and her car keys, and leaves the apartment. She's made up her mind.

She's going there.

* * *

Jake and Kevin are all alone in their safe house, arguing over yet another silly thing (it's not even been twenty-four full hours of confinement, but they're already tired of it) when suddenly they hear a small knock on the front door of their hidden apartment. It makes them fall completely quiet instantly, and Jake takes out his gun on instinct.

It's the middle of the night, and they're not expecting any visit from any member of the Nine-Nine any time soon.

As he slowly approaches the door, his gun pointed in front of him in protection, Jake turns towards his Captain's husband to meet his gaze, telling him in gestures not to make any noise and to stay behind, wanting to keep him safe in case this is Seamus who somehow found a way to locate them.

But, just as he's about to throw open the door and threaten the intruder, he's stopped in his tracks by a voice calling from the other side, whispering, "Jake? It's me!"

It makes him drop his weapon immediately. Because of course he could recognise that particular voice between hundreds of others: it's Amy's. He doesn't waste any more second then, and opens the door to her, concern taking over him as he stares at his future wife standing in front of him… in her pajamas.

"A–Ames? What are you doing here?" he asks, eyebrow raised in confusion. "Did something happen?" he worries.

She looks rather stressed out, and a bit ashamed too, when she starts confessing, "I was home, lying in bed and I… I couldn't stop thinking about you, and Kevin, and how you might be in danger, and I just… I couldn't sleep," she shares. "So I tried working on our wedding invites, because y'know, we really should be sending them soon if we want to have enough time to make the table sitting plans when we know for sure who will be there or not, but then I realised it wasn't as much fun to do without you and I started missing you and…"

Amy stops, looking down, unable to say more. She doesn't have to for Jake to understand what's _really_ going on here, hidden behind all her ramblings: it's the very first night since he came back from prison all those weeks ago they're not sleeping in the same bed.

And, even though it's been months now since that nightmare happened and they finally moved on from it, it looks like those kind of wounds are very easy to re-open.

Especially when the reason why Jake isn't at home tonight is because he's on a mission to take care of a man a criminal wants to hurt – it really doesn't help staying positive.

He simply smiles at her then, and opens the door bigger for her to come inside. "We have a spare sleeping bag," he simply informs her as he takes her hand in his and comes closer to her to welcome her with a light, tender peck on her lips, his was of telling her he understands, and reassuring her that _it's okay_.

She lets out a relieved sigh and smiles back, grateful. She was afraid he'd find her silly.

(She _was_ silly for thinking that.)

When she enters the room, the first thing she spots is Kevin, standing in the background, waiting for his protector to come back. "Hi Kevin!" she happily greets him.

"Detective Santiago," the older man nods in return. "We weren't expecting you here? And in your… pajamas?" he studies her with a puzzled look in his eyes. "Are you staying for the night?"

"Yeah, I…" Amy hesitates answering – she's not so sure she wants to share the whole story with Kevin.

Hopefully, Jake comes to her rescue in a heartbeat. "I asked her to come here," he lets the civilian know, coming to stand next to her. "Y'know, to take turns while the other sleeps. Plus, remember that dance rehearsal class I said we had to cancel last minute because of this mission? Well, I thought we could rehearse here on our own instead."

After what he turns to Amy and offers him his hand. "Shall we?" he brightly smiles at her.

She's startled at first, watching her fiancé with her eyes wide open, but eventually she accepts his request, and soon they find themselves quietly moving around the small room of the safe house in shared rhythm, Amy's head comfortably resting on Jake's chest with her eyes closed, all worries that previously took over her mind now gone as he holds her close. They go on speaking about the remaining wedding preparations when they're all lying on the floor in their sleeping bags until late during the night.

It makes Kevin smile, right next to them, seeing them like this. It reminds him of Raymond and himself and non-efficient officiant. It reminds him of the love of his own life.

And how he can't wait to be reunited with him again, being able to share his bed again too.


	31. The Next Step

It's late at night (or very early in the morning) when Jake and Amy are finally back in their hotel room, as a __married__ couple this time, now that the ceremony and following party of their wedding are officially over. They're lying in the huge king-size bed, all curled up in the afterglow of what has been the proper celebration of their union.

The proper celebration of their __love__.

It's late at night (or very early in the morning) when Amy's eyes, that until then were starting to close from exhaustion, lulled into sleep by Jake's gentle strokes on her upper arm as he hugs her close to his chest and recalls on some funny anecdotes from the party, suddenly burst open in realisation.

 _" _Oh crap!"__ she exclaims, worry suddenly taking over her whole body. In an instinctive move, she draws herself away from her newly husband's embrace, as if it could help prevent what she's afraid might happen now, because of her silly mistake. Of her silly oversight.

"What?" Jake asks as he turns his head to have a better look at her with concern in his eyes.

Amy doesn't answer right away. She lowers her gaze towards her stomach, and hesitantly touches it, swallowing hard. How dumb could have she been? True, today was a very full and tiring day, filled with things to do and people to see and details to think about, but still… She should have thought about __it__.

She never forgot before. Not even came close to doing so once in all those years.

But of course it had to happen tonight, of all nights.

Seeing she's starting to truly panic now and since she hasn't said another word since her first sudden burst, Jake puts his hand on top of hers, intertwining their fingers together. "Hey," he whispers. The sight of his wedding band reflecting in the dark room makes her smile, despite everything. She looks up at him, then.

"What's wrong?" he invites her to share her problems with him. After all, it was only a few hours ago when he swore to stay by her side through the good but also the __hard__ times. And he meant it, when he said his 'I do,' to be there for her no matter what.

She takes a deep breath, never leaving his gaze, and spills everything at once, squeezing his hand in an attempt to give herself some composure, "I forgot to take my pill."

It takes her husband a split second to understand the meaning of it, what could be at stakes here, but when he eventually does, his only reaction his to offer Amy a bright, reassuring smile. He doesn't seem the least worried about this new possibility of having a child even if, when they talked about it (because of course they did), they agreed to wait before taking that new step in their shared lives.

Not to maybe unconsciously conceive him on their wedding night…

(Statistically speaking, Amy knows the chances are very low for her to get pregnant after tonight, even if she forgot to take her pill once. But still – there __is__ a chance she might. And that's more than enough to freak her out. She – __they__ – didn't plan it. Not for now.)

On the contrary, Jake seems __thrilled__ about it as he takes her in his arms again in a tight, loving embrace.

Amy doesn't need more than just that to calm down too, and she smiles back, leaning into him with her head buried in the crook of his neck. She's so happy __he__ 's the one she gets to call her husband now – he knows perfectly how to reassure her, how to be there for her in every given situation. He truly is the best person she's ever known.

And she's so glad she got to be officially united with him a few hours ago – for the rest of their lives.

"I know this isn't in our upcoming plans," Jake eventually answers, slightly drawing away from her as he speak to look her in the eye and show her how he means every word he lets out, "But either way – if it happens or not –, we'll be perfectly alright. At least we could still say we waited til the wedding," he jokes.

A laugh escapes her throat in return, completely serene again. He's right. No matter what happens, whether she does get pregnant or not, they __will__ be alright indeed.

For only answer then, she kisses him lightly. "I love you so much," she says, and they take back their initial places curled up in bed.

(She's not so terrified anymore when, a few weeks later, the three pregnancy tests she took after being late and sick show the 'positive' sign on all of them. She's simply happy to finally start a new family with the man she loves more than anyone else in this world. With her __husband__.)

(And, when little Sarah Peralta enters their lives nine months later, she realises, watching Jake hold the infant in his arms with pure bliss and tears in his eyes, how right he was during their wedding night. They're even __more__ than alright – this is simply perfect. There was truly no need to wait, finally.

Maybe her foolish oversight turned into the best mistake she could have made in the end.)


	32. In Another Life (We Could Be Royals)

**This is inspired by a story I wrote for Captain Swan (again) back in the day, 'Le Pirate et la Princesse,' where Killian read his and Emma's story to their daugther after she had a nightmare. So, basically here it's quite the same plot:**

 **Jake reads he and Amy's daughter their own story, rewritten 'fairytale-stylez' (i.e. this is a Royalty!AU) by Terry as a wedding gift a few years prior to that.**

 **Proofread by _middleclassaunty_ and _itsgarbagecannotgarbagecannot_ on Tumblr.**

* * *

 _ _"Daddyyyyy!"__

Jake is in the kitchen, quietly cleaning the dishes when he hears footsteps rushing his way, and the recognisable voice of his little girl resonating against the walls.

He barely has the time to put the plate he was holding into the sink when a small human being comes and wraps her arms around his legs, immediately hiding her head in them as she does so. He can feel her falling tears wetting his jeans.

"Hey baby girl," her father gently calls her, concern audible in his voice as he strokes her dark, curly hair with his hand in a soothing gesture. "What's going on?"

"I… had… a… nightmare," the child cries. Jake reacts by forcing her to detach herself from the embrace, and squats to meet her height. He puts his finger on her chin to make her look up towards him and kindly smiles at her when she does so. "Come here," he says, opening his arms widely and she curls up against his chest in an instant.

"Shh, it's okay now." He hugs her tight, and smooths his hand up and down her back until her cries have gone silent. This time, when they break apart, she's the one initiating it. She still has a few tears falling onto her face, but at least it's not big sobs anymore. "Feeling better?" Jake asks then.

She silently nods in answer while he removes some of the last salty pearls from her cheek with his fingers. "Where's Mommy?" She speaks again after a short while, looking around in search of Amy and frowning when she doesn't find her anywhere near.

"At work," Jake explains. He waits a second before adding anything – he's afraid this new piece of information is going to take them back to another round of crying. When it doesn't, he goes on, "Remember, I told you she had to work late? But she'll be back soon, promise."

"Can I wait for her?" the girl asks.

The detective pauses to think. His wife sent a text a few minutes ago, telling him that her case was taking longer than she first expected. Plus, it's already almost nine – which means one hour past bedtime, and she didn't even have a whole hour of sleep since he had tucked her in.

He doesn't have to think for long to come to a conclusion, then: waiting really isn't a good idea.

He knows his daughter won't like what he's about to tell her, so he remains careful when he says, "Sarah, you have school tomorrow."

She pouts at his words. Sarah might be only five, but she's quite the intelligent girl, and thus knows this is not looking good for her request.

"So you need to rest," he continues. "But if you go to sleep now, time will actually go faster, and when you wake up Mommy will be here and make you breakfast. Would you like that, breakfast with Mommy? I'm sure if you ask her nicely she'll even agree to make you pancakes."

She seems to enjoy the idea very much, because he doesn't have to argue more for her to go back to bed. Once she's all tucked under her covers, though, and Jake's about to leave her alone, Sarah tries again. "Can you stay and read me a story? I'm afraid the monster is going to come back…"

As she speaks, tears start sprinkling in her brown eyes once more, and Jake remembers what all of this was really about in the beginning: his daughter having a nightmare. He surrenders to her plea then, and comes back to sit next to her.

There's a shelf full of books by his side, but he doesn't have to search through them all to pick one. He already knows which one he's going to read. The one that's carefully put aside by itself; __The Peraltiago Story__. It's a book Terry wrote – and illustrated – as a gift for Jake and Amy's wedding, a few years earlier.

And, as its name suggests, it recalls their whole story – though put in a fairytale world, and romanticized a bit for the story's purposes. Jake read it for the first time the day after the ceremony and cried the entire time. He had always dreamed of that moment when he could read it to his own children, too.

So, obviously, the choice is easily made there. It's time for Sarah to learn about her parents' love story.

After making himself comfortable, and once sure the little brunette is all ears out, he starts sharing in a slow voice, "Once upon a time, in a land far away from here, the 99th land of the Brooklyn Forest, there was a castle. And, living inside this castle, there was a family – the royal family of the realm.

"The people of the 99th land of the Brooklyn Forest loved the royal family, and the royal family loved them back. So much so that, when one day, a mother and her child came to the castle asking for their help after the father of that family left the house, leaving them all alone and penniless, they didn't hesitate to welcome them in their home.

"Thankful, the mother asked how she could pay the King and Queen back for their kindness. They didn't need to be paid back; after all, it was their duty to take care of their subjects as they had taken a vow to always look after them and be sure they'd never lack of anything.

"But the woman insisted, so they hired her as an arts teacher to their children, for she was an artist, and they had a lot of children. Six, to be precise, soon-to-be eight as the Queen was expecting not only one, but two happy events the next month. As for the woman's son – Johnny was is name – he was raised among the royal siblings.

"It didn't take long for Johnny to fit in and befriend them all, and especially one of them: Dora, the only girl of the whole brothers and sister.

"Though in many aspects they were very different, they both had one thing in common that brought them close; they were both hugely competitive, always trying to outdo the other at every chance they had – and they did find a lot, in every one of all of their different trainings.

"That's how they came to learn that Johnny was by far the best at ball dancing and riding horses, but no-one could win over Dora at mathematics or music lessons.

"They grew up, but nothing changed, still challenging each other over every new skill they were supposed to learn. Until Johnny became old enough to apply to the army, and he became all serious about his trainings all of a sudden – or at least, as serious as someone like Johnny could ever be.

"'It's my dream, Dora!' he'd tell his friend as he'd pack his things, ready to leave for a whole summer of trainings and tests to see if he was fitting for the job. 'And it's about to come true. Finally I'll be a real John McClane.'

"John McClane was Johnny's hero since childhood, from a famous legend that was told around the realms, about a true, brave soldier who was always there to save the world.

"Dora simply smiled in return to his excitation. She, too, had an important summer waiting for her: she was going abroad on a camp to gather some more knowledge about 'the codes of royalty.' Every volunteer prince and princess of the 39 different realms of the Brooklyn Forest were invited to attend. And of course she volunteered.

"She loved learning new things, despite how Johnny would make fun of her about that and call her a 'nerd.'

"Plus, there was a chance she would finally meet her future husband there, too.

"Ever since she was old enough to understand it, Dora had known she was promised to a prince for an arranged marriage. She didn't know much about him, apart from the fact that his name was Ted, and he was from the 82th realm, and their parents were looking forward to merging their realms into a bigger one thanks to them.

"So she hoped she would be able to meet him before the wedding, so that she could get to know him.

"'Well, if he's at that camp, at least you can be sure he's a good match and he's as nerdy as you are,' Johnny teased her when she talked to her friend about him.

"They parted ways for two months with a hug, wishing each other good luck in their own journey. It was the first (but surely not the last) time these two were going to be separated that long.

"They didn't feel the summer pass by, though – thus they didn't have time to miss each other too much. While Johnny was all busy with training and hanging out with new friends that were to become his squad if they all passed the final test – one of them was Rosie, a tough, fearless girl – Dora, on the other hand, saw her wish come true.

"Indeed, upon her arrival at the 'codes of royalty' camp, when everyone gathered around to do the presentations, she found herself faced with a tall, handsome boy who bowed at her with a beautiful smile and kissed her hand in courtesy while revealing his name, 'Enchanted to meet you, Princess. I'm Prince Ted.'

"He had her charmed right on the spot. 'Enchanted to meet you too,' she replied, feeling her cheeks turning red. 'I'm Princess Dora.'

"'Princess Dora?!' his face lit up at the sound of her name. 'As in, Princess Dora of the 99th land?'

"'Herself indeed,' she nodded, and he took her hand in his – a simple gesture that made her blush even more than before.

"'Let's take a walk before the camp begins, shall we?' he offered, then. She didn't hesitate one second to agree.

"As days turned into weeks, Dora and Ted got closer, and soon became inseparables. They discovered they had a lot in common, and all the anxiety Dora could have first felt about meeting her promised vanished as she learned to know him better. She'd always trusted her parents to make a good choice for her but never would have she imagined them making the __perfect__ choice.

"Every time they could, they'd sneak out into the woods to share picnics and stories away from prying eyes. Their last night at camp at the end of the two months made no exception. Except this time, when the sun started coming down and they had to go back to camp, Ted took Dora's hands in his and watched her intently, nervous.

"'May I… kiss you goodnight?' he eventually found the guts to ask. He'd wanted to do it for weeks, and now was his last chance before long.

"Dora was startled at first, though she should have expected such a question. They were really getting along, and would be husband and wife someday. Kissing was quite an evident part of what they would be doing once married.

"Still, she was hesitant. She hadn't kissed anyone before, though she was sure she knew how to do it at least correctly – she'd read books about it, after all. Lots of them.

"After some quiet time debating with herself, she accepted his request, and closed her eyes as his lips chastely met with hers.

"She was back home the day after, already missing him. Johnny hadn't returned from his training yet – he wouldn't before a few more days. But when he did, it was with a huge grin upon his face that he greeted his friend, taking her into his arms as he let her of know of the __great__ news.

"'I've been accepted into the royal army!' he exclaimed, and his happiness spreaded upon the girl, who congratulated him, hugging him back. She was truly happy for her friend – it was his dream, and he worked really hard to achieve it. He deserved it, more than anyone else.

"After that, he told her all about his time away – about what he did during the trainings, the friends he met, the test he had to pass. He also recounted to her about the new commanding officer that would be at the head of his squad, whom he met on his last day. He was replacing the former one, Officer McGintley, who was retiring.

"'He's soooo boring,' Johnny complained with a sigh. 'He wants us all to put a uniform, says it's super important. He's making too many rules already.'

"'What's his name?' Dora asked, curious. 'On the contrary, from what you've said, he seems great. Don't tell my father, but I __hated__ Officer McGintley. He was so useless.'

"'Officer Ray Hold, I think,' the boy shrugged. 'And I'd rather have McGintley back. At least he wasn't behind my back all the time.'

"'Are you kidding me?!' his friend suddenly exclaimed, apparently in shock by his revelation. 'Officer Ray Hold is the best! You have to introduce him to me. I need to ask him to give me some lessons. He's my idol.'

"Johnny didn't bother to reply with anything; simply laughed at the girl's sudden excitement. Then, after a short pause, he asked, 'And you, tell me about your summer! Did you meet your Prince Charming there?' he joked, and all of a sudden Dora was back to being serious again.

"She wasn't so sure she wanted to talk about what happened. Especially not with __him__ , which was strange, since he was usually the one she'd want to share everything with.

"'It was… great,' she eventually began with her explanation, though. 'We learned tons of very interesting things. And… yes, my future husband was there.'

"'So, how is he? Wait, let me guess… does he have like a super weird soul patch or something? He __has__ to have one!' Johnny got very excited about the conversation.

"Dora hit him in the side for this. 'No, he doesn't,' she informed her friend, and blushed as she went on, 'He's really handsome, actually. And kind. We have a lot in common.'

"'So I was right!' the newly-graded soldier exclaimed. 'He __is__ a nerd!' he laughed, but the girl didn't laugh along with him. She barely listened to him, too lost in her memories of the summer she'd spent with Ted, and how she felt like her heart was going to explode when his lips tenderly brushed hers.

"'Can I tell you a secret?' she suddenly felt the urge of sharing the moment with someone as she went back to reality.

"'Sure,' Johnny answered, his brows furrowed with concern, looking intently at his friend. She got him curious with her question.

"'It's nothing too important, don't worry,' she reassured him immediately. 'But, on our last night there he took me out and asked me to kiss me and… I said yes.'

"'Oh,' he simply let out. He didn't know what to say more, caught off guard by her declaration. Weirdly, he felt his stomach starting to ache, but still tried to put on a straight face as he told her, not knowing what was so suddenly happening to him, 'That's great, congratulations!'

" _ _Idiot__ , he immediately thought to himself. Why would he congratulate her on such a thing? It was just a kiss. Shared with the man she was promised to marry since childhood.

"There really was no big deal, here, then. He'd kiss girls too – and she knew that already, because he'd brag about it every time, mostly to her.

"Never did she congratulate him about that, though. Because that was stupid. __He__ was being stupid.

"She didn't seem to find it too strange, since she simply thanked him with a shy smile, her cheeks as red as he'd ever seen them before.

"After their reunion, they never talked about that topic again, and went back to their life as they knew it before each one of them left for the summer: a life full of friendly banter and challenges. They took the latter to another level when, while Dora was all excited about Officer Hold agreeing on training her, Johnny started teasing her about it.

"'I'd love to see you around a sword,' he gently mocked her, soon accompanied by two of his colleagues: Rosie, and Charly, his partner, whom he met at entering the army.

"Lina, Dora's maid, was also there – the five of them had taken the habit to meet several times a week, getting along all pretty well.

"'I'd be __so good__ at sword fighting,' his friend was soon to react. 'Way better than __you__. Leave me just one year of training, and I'll show you how great I can learn to be.'

"'Please,' Johnny laughed. 'I'm in the army now,' he loved to repeat it to whoever wanted to know, 'In a year I'll be __unbeatable__.'

"'Wanna bet?' the princess's competitor's side woke up instantly at his daring words, and of course he agreed. 'What are you ready to bet, then?'

"'Anything. There's no way I'm losing this,' Johnny assured.

"'What about your Mustang?' Rosie proposed, taking part of the conversation – all of it seemed very amusing, from an outside point of view.

"'No, Johnny, you can't do that!' Charly tried to stop him. 'Your horse is a girls magnet! You can't risk to lose that.'

"'I'm not gonna lose it, since I'm gonna win,' the concerned boy insisted again.

"'Okay, so, what would be the worst thing to you, Dora?' Lina turned to the princess.

"'To be one of those girls Johnny took on a ride with this horse.'

"'That's settled then,' the maid sealed the bet. 'If Johnny loses, he has to give Dora his horse. But if Dora loses, she has to go on a date with Johnny riding said horse.'

"'Prepare to live the worst night of your life, Dora,' her friend jokingly threatened her as they shook hands.

"'You wish,' she replied, staring at him with determined eyes. There was no way she was letting him win."

At that point in the story, Jake takes a pause, heart beating fast in his chest, and tears of emotion menacing to fall down his face.

He's read the book tons of times, to the point he knows it by heart, just like he knows every line of every drawing, but still it gets to him every time.

Even more so now that he's telling it to his and Amy's __daughter__ , who was born of their love, the first of, he wishes so, several siblings. More than ever tonight he can see how far they've come from that girl and this boy who made a stupid bet about who was the best detective between them to becoming __husband__ and __wife__ and having a child.

If he could go back in time and tell that to the Jake of January 14th, 2013, he'd certainly laugh at him.

"D'you want me to stop?" he asks when he spots Sarah letting out a yawn – it's getting late for her. But she shakes her head in return.

"No, please, go on. I wanna know who wins," she says, and it's all it takes for one happy pearl to leave his eye – seeing his child being all excited about her parents' love-story-turned-fairytale is quite the wonderful sight.

"Okay, then. Where were we… Oh, right," he finds the paragraph where he stopped again. "After that, for a whole year Johnny and Dora trained mercilessly to beat the other when time would finally come for them to sword fight, and thus show which of the two was the best at it.

"Throughout the months that passed, word about the bet between the princess and her friend got passed around the people of the 99th land of the Brooklyn Forest, so that when time eventually came for them to have this battle, they had a whole crowd coming from all around the realm to watch them and enjoy the show they had to offer.

"They didn't waste any second, and started their fight after wishing each other good luck – they were still friends, after all, and it wasn't this silly competition that was going to change that. It quickly turned out that they were both good – __truly__ good at handling a sword. For long, it was impossible to tell which one of them was going to win.

"Sometimes Johnny had the advantage, sometimes it was Dora who would get back on top, or __vice versa__.

"But, in the end, while the princess thought she was winning for good, her friend gave one last perfect strike that ensured him victory. He let his sword fall onto the floor then, and rushed towards the defeated girl, kneeling in front of her with a huge, happy grin lighting his face.

"'Princess Dora,' he called her name, unable to hide his amusement at the grumpy look she was offering him right now. 'You've made me the happiest man on Earth… will you go on the worst date ever with me? You have to say yes.'

"'Yes…' she reluctantly answered him, and Johnny stood back up, yelling 'she said yes!' in victory in front of a cheering crowd.

"Nothing could be worse than this humiliation, Dora thought.

"At exactly 8:00 that same night, Johnny was knocking on Dora's door, ready to go. 'Dora, it's date-time!' he called her. 'Time to date!'

"'Johnny,' she complained as she passed her head through the doorway before opening it completely, offering the perfect view on the dress he made her wear for the night. 'This outfit is ridiculous.'

"He simply laughed in return, reminding her of their deal as they made their way outside: until midnight (this was the King and Queen's curfew for their daughter, they wouldn't let her go out later than this – weren't really keen on the whole concept of the bet anyway), __he__ would be the one deciding on what she would wear, eat, and do.

"He'd spent a lot of time working on the perfect plan to make this night the most embarrassing night possible. It was going to be a lot of fun. For him, at least.

"Maybe less for her. But __she__ was the one who thought she could beat __him__ , not the contrary, after all.

"'Oh, and there is one more rule,' he added as he stopped in front of his horse, whose harness he decorated for the occasion. 'No matter what happens, you're not allowed to fall in love with me,' he joked. She rolled her eyes, and smiled as she refused his help to mount on the animal.

"'Won't be a problem,' she swore.

"Before going anywhere else, they made a stop at the nearest tavern; it was where all the members of the army used to gather together at least once a week. And tonight was a special night for one of them, as they were celebrating Charly getting a medal of valor for taking a blow for Rosie, more than likely saving her life.

"As his best of friends, Johnny had to come over, if only for a short moment, to congratulate him.

"Passing the front door of the place, Dora turned to her friend, and asked, 'Permission to go to the ladies' room?'

"'Granted,' the soldier accepted. 'But you only have three – choose them wisely.' She rolled her eyes, and left him alone.

"Johnny went to join his friends while she was away, taking a seat next to the older member of his squad. 'Congrats again buddy, I really am proud of you.'

"He then apologised for not being able to stay too long at the party, but surprisingly enough, the other man didn't seem to bother too much about that.

"More truthful than ever that night due to the medications he was taking, he talked to his friend about his relationship with Dora, and this supposedly __terrible__ date he threw for her. 'All of this teasing, this elaborate date… I think you like Dora. Like… __like her__ , like her.'

"'Okay, that's straight up insanity,' the other was soon to react, on the defensive.

"She was just his friend, nothing more than __his friend__. That were the only feelings he had towards her. But Charly insisted nonetheless, advising him to simply have a chat about it with her. Which was a stupid idea, Johnny thought, since even though it were true and he did like her, they couldn't be together in any way.

"She was engaged to another already, and he wasn't royalty himself. So, there was no chance at a love story here.

"'I do __not__ like Dora!' he denied one last time before leaving his friend behind – the princess was coming back.

"While they were still at the tavern, Johnny invited Dora into performing some elaborate dance in front of everyone, knowing all too well how bad she was at it.

"'Romantic,' Charly couldn't help but whisper into the soldier's ear as he was about to take the girl to the center of the dancefloor, where everyone could witness the fiasco.

"'No, embarrassing,' he corrected before concentrating on their dance, and the show they would obviously make.

"Right in the middle of it, though, his Officer interrupted them, asking Johnny for a word. The two of them were getting along better, since the first time they met, after learning to know each other and their working styles. Sometimes Johnny even perceived him as a father figure, after being left by his own when he was a child.

"Not that he would ever admit that to him.

"'I need you to go on a patrol for me,' he explained, telling the young man that a stranger had been spotted in the realm, terrorising people on his way.

"'But… I'm right in the middle of this date, and…' Johnny tried to argue, but Officer Hold shushed him.

"'This is not a negotiation, so go,' he severely told him.

"The brunette gave in. 'All right, fine,' he sighed in defeat. 'But I'm taking Dora with me.'

"That's how the two friends ended up riding the boy's horse away from the tavern, and deep into the forest, where that stranger had last been seen according to the witnesses that warned Ray Hold. Once arrived at the place, they hid behind some bushes in order not to be caught up by the criminal if he were to reappear on the scene of his crimes.

"In the meantime, while waiting for any unusual sign, they fell into chatting and laughing together, sharing stories and nuts that Johnny had taken with him as a snack.

"'Throw one at me,' he asked Dora, and she did so – he perfectly, and rather proudly, caught it in his mouth. 'Your turn,' he invited her to do the same afterwards.

"Unfortunately, she wasn't as good as him, and let the nut he threw at her fall on the floor, which made them both laugh uncontrollably. 'What are you doing?' he teased.

"He looked at her for a minute, and while her laughter still filled the air, he froze. It was as if he was seeing her for the first time – she was so beautiful, seeming so happy, and with the only light brightening up her face the one of the moon above them reflecting on a lake a few feet away. Charly's words skyrocket back to his mind. __You like her.__

"Maybe he did, after all. If liking someone meant wanting to make them feel this way all the time – happy and laughing and simply __having fun__ – and feeling that pang in his own chest just by staring at them.

"But he couldn't think about it more that night, since soon after that, a shadow appeared on the lake, and they burst out of their hiding place to catch the stranger, first playing pretend they were lost and needed guidance before revealing their true identity to him, and taking him back to the castle for judgment.

"When later, Johnny accompanied her back to her room, time having come for them to eventually part, Dora stopped at her door, and turned back to her friend with an apologetic look on her face. 'I'm sorry we couldn't do everything you planned tonight,' she said. 'Must have turned into a terrible date for you indeed…'

"'Nah, it was still a good date,' he reassured her with a smile. She frowned in confusion, and he quickly added then, 'You know, 'cause we caught the bad guy.'

"She smiled back at him. 'That's very mature of you,' she acknowledged.

"'I'm a very mature man,' he joked in answer. She rolled her eyes, then wished him goodnight, and Johnny left for good, joining his own room in another aisle of the castle.

"After that night, and the realisation that came along with it, Johnny tried to lock his feelings deep inside his heart, never talking about them to anyone, and simply praying for them to fade away if he just repressed them enough. He couldn't like Dora. There was no point in that – she didn't like him back, and in the unlikely event she would, they couldn't be together anyway.

"He managed to do it for quite some time. Until one day, when Ted came and visited the castle. It was a real surprise for Dora, who hadn't seen him for a whole year, since the camp they attended together during that summer, and wasn't expecting for him to come that soon.

"The instant they met each other again, though, they clicked again fast, and even harder than the first time.

"Johnny tried not to care too much. But when he suggested they all should go to the tavern with their friends to enjoy some free time all together, for the first time ever Dora passed on it – she had plans already, with Ted. He was going to take her on a picnic under the stars, __just like old times__.

"This was to be the last straw for Johnny. He couldn't enjoy his night without his best friend being there. Charly tried to comfort him, but in vain.

"After that, everything changed between the pair of friends. They weren't spending as much time together as they used to. Johnny missed his partner, more than he was sad about not being able to be 'the one' for her, to tell the truth. And Ted didn't seem to be like sailing back to his own realm either, unfortunately.

"Johnny had thought he would stay only a week, maybe two – a month at the maximum. But this one month turned into several of them, and in the end, Johnny was the one to leave first. Indeed, the sovereigns of the Iannuci land, long-time enemies of several of the realms of the Brooklyn Forest, including the 99th land, declared war on them.

"The soldiers were called to go and fight for their people then. __Johnny__ was called.

"The night before their departure, as it was tradition at the 99th land of the Brooklyn Forest, a feast and a ball were thrown out in honor of the ones who were leaving their homes, putting their lives at risk for the sake of others. Johnny was nervous, as this was going to be his very first war.

"Really excited about it, too.

"The night of festivities happened to be really great for Johnny. Indeed, after that declaration of war was sent to the King and Queen of the 99th land, Ted rushed back to his own realm to see if the same threat was looming upon his own people. Which meant, he couldn't attend the ball.

"Johnny was able to spend the whole night with Dora then, only the two of them like they used to. She was so beautiful, dressed in a wonderful blue ball gown that fitted her so well it made her look like a mermaid – something he didn't miss his chance to tell her, despite the confusion this declaration caused her, clearly not expecting it from him.

"Later during the night, while they were casually chatting, he even managed to steal her a dance. Everyone around had been weirdly looking at her for quite a while now – it wasn't fitting for a princess not to engage in at least one dance, after all. So, when Johnny took her hand and led her in the middle of the room, she didn't complain.

"Dora hated that, though. Had only one wish: for it to stop as soon as possible. She was so bad at it…

"But then, after she managed to step on __both__ Johnny's feet at the __same__ time, he finally suggested, 'Do you want me to teach you how it's done?'

"It's with a sigh of relief she agreed, and he started making her move around in shared rhythm this time. Quickly, she got caught up in the game, and looked at her partner with bliss in her eyes. 'That's fun,' she acknowledged, and he simply nodded in return, smiling broadly. He couldn't have asked for more for this last night with Dora.

"Suddenly though, she broke their moment when she added, contemplative, 'Maybe Ted and I should take classes together before the wedding, to train.'

"'Yeah, maybe,' Johnny simply answered, his smile long gone and his heart broken into pieces at her words. He didn't want to think about Ted – certainly not tonight.

"Other than that, the rest of the party went on smoothly. Once every guest was finally gone, Johnny took Dora back to her room to be able to say his last goodbyes without having people around listening. He hesitated only one second before letting everything that he'd kept inside for the past months out.

"'I don't know what's gonna happen during this war,' he started his speech, and his friend frowned at that, but he didn't give her time to cut him off.

"'And if something bad goes down, I think I'd be pissed at myself if I didn't say this. I kinda wish something could happen between us – __romantic-stylez__. And I know it can't 'cause you've been promised to Ted forever, and I'm not royalty myself anyway, and… that's just how it is,' he concluded his confession, looking down.

"He couldn't bring himself to watch her reaction. Which was to remain frozen, as he eventually rushed away, not letting her the occasion to answer. 'The realm needs me!' he justified himself, shrugging before disappearing at the corner of a corridor, leaving his friend all alone and confused in front of her room's door.

" _ _What had just happened?!__ "

"Johnny will come back, right, daddy?" Sarah suddenly interrupts his father in his reading, fear easily recognisable in her voice.

"Yes," Jake tells her to reassure her, thinking about that first of a too-long list of separations between he and Amy. Hopefully though, they always managed a way back to each other, no matter how the world tried to keep them apart. It never broke them. On the contrary, all it did was draw them closer and closer each time.

Indeed, their first separation was followed, a few months later, by them eventually getting together.

The second, by them moving in together after planning on doing so right before he got __the call__.

And the third… well, after the third, he was finally able to do what he'd been planning for a long time already: propose to the love of his life.

"Go on, please," his daughter takes him back from his reverie, gently shaking his arm with her little hand. She still isn't nowhere near tired, too concentrated on the story to fall asleep. He looks at the clock on her bedside then, and decides from now on he'll pass on some passages to come quicker to the end.

He'll have plenty of time to re-read the entire, full of details story of how he and his wife fell for the other to the point of getting married and having a child later.

He goes on then, "War lasted for six months. Six long months during which Dora spent each passing day wondering about the people gone at war, and how they were doing.

"Her father. Most of her seven brothers. __Johnny.__ The boy, who had grown into a man now, didn't leave her thoughts once during those six months.

"But then, after those six months, they were back home safe. __He__ was back home safe. They'd successfully won the war against the people of the Iannuci land.

"Even though of course she was relieved to know nothing happened to the people the closest to her heart, and excited to see them again after all this time, Dora was also quite nervous about how her meeting with Johnny would go. After all, last time they saw each other, he admitted his feelings for her without letting her time to discuss more about it.

"He denied them all the moment he asked her to talk privately, though, telling her it was nothing, and she let him know Ted had come back to the castle during his absence.

"Until the day passed, and they met at the tavern with the rest of their friends to celebrate his comeback – he'd been the only one of the newly-formed squad to be able to go to war, the others had been judged too young and unexperimented still for that. He let her know about the __real__ truth this time, when he offered to share a beer with her.

"'The thing I said to you before I left for war, about how I wished something had happened between us romantically, that wasn't nothing,' he confessed. 'That was real.'

"Dora was confused. 'What are you saying?' she frowned, carefully listening.

"'I know that you're engaged to Ted. I'm not trying to change that. And I get there's stuff I can't control. But this morning I told you that I didn't mean any of it, and that was a lie. I just don't want to hold anything back,' Johnny concluded his speech.

"His friend remained silent for a short while processing what he just said. Then, she offered him a shy smile. 'Well, thank you for saying that.' Before quickly adding to that, 'Just as long as we're clear that I'm promised to someone and nothing's gonna happen.' He replied with a joke of his own, and she let out a heartfelt laugh at it.

" _ _'He's back!'__ she happily exclaimed, truly glad to have her friend by her side again and trying to concentrate only on this – not the strange feeling taking over her heart once again – the exact same feeling she felt the first time he confessed his own sentiments to her.

"She couldn't let herself linger onto that. She had someone already. The rules hadn't changed during his absence. And she wasn't one for breaking rules. So they decided upon simply remaining friends, and nothing else – they both loved what they had too much to risk it.

"It took Johnny some time to move on from Dora, but he eventually did. He met a girl at the tavern one night, while out with a friend of his. Sophie was her name. She was funny, and beautiful, and nice, and from that first meeting, they seemed to have a lot in common. Very important too – she was of no rank, which meant he could __date__ her.

"The more time they spent together, the more they got along well, and soon Johnny found himself __in love__. He thought this was it, then – the moment he would let Dora go.

"When he would accept to only be his friend.

"And it did for quite some time, actually, until the day before the actual wedding, since the princess was finally in age to marry. With the King and Queen's approval, Johnny had invited Sophie to come to the castle earlier to get ready for the event together, and Ted was supposed to arrive some time before dinner.

"'I can't marry him,' Dora suddenly let out, to much of Johnny's surprise, while they were both hanging out in the castle's gardens – Sophie was in the guests' room unpacking her stuff for the night and taking a shower after the long ride it had been for her to come from her own little house. She'd thought about it a lot, for the past weeks.

"Truth to be told, she'd thought about it since her birthday, when it finally occurred to her time had come to get married with Ted – __for realz__.

"For a long time she'd been okay with marrying for the sake of her kingdom, and not out of love. Especially when she first met her future husband, and grew to appreciate and __truly__ love him throughout the months spent together. It wasn't the case anymore – there was no spark between them anymore, she explained her friend when he asked.

"He was boring, and she couldn't picture a lifetime spent with a boring man.

"'What are you gonna do about it?' Johnny wanted to know if she had a plan, caring about her well-being, and sorry for her this was happening.

"He really thought the two of them were getting along pretty well.

"'I don't know,' Dora acknowledged, lowering her eyes, unable to meet her friend's. 'I think after dinner tonight, when Ted leaves to gain his own room, I'll go talk to my parents and tell them the truth. They'll know what to do about it and advise me.'

"Unfortunately though, she wasn't able to last that long. Ted seemed so happy about their upcoming nuptials, she had to spill the truth, not taking it any longer.

"'I can't do this anymore,' she apologised, stealing a glance at her friend in search of any help. 'I'm sorry, Ted, but I can't marry you.'

"From every side of the huge table, reactions didn't wait to come. Obviously, Ted was furious. Her parents were confused. As for Johnny, he wasn't surprised.

"At least, at the beginning. Because then, as things were starting to get pretty heated between the supposed betrothed and he and Sophie were about to leave the dining room to go back to their own rooms so that the royals could take care of the problem alone, Ted stopped them, pointing at Johnny with anger.

"'All of this is your fault,' he blamed the soldier, who didn't understand what was going on. 'You told her you liked her before you went to war, and then coming back. And, every time you would do that, she'd be confused. And I think it's because Dora liked you back.'

"Sophie turned around in his direction with a questioning look. She didn't know Johnny used to like Dora. What __he__ certainly didn't know, is that __she__ liked him __back__ …

"'Did you?' he needed confirmation coming from her.

"She was blushing, not knowing where to stand anymore. 'Maybe,' she eventually let out, hesitant. 'Yes. I was… confused,' she repeated the prince's word.

"Johnny's face instantly lit up, and Sophie, watching him, shook her head. 'Okay, I think that's too much for me,' she left.

"Then Ted followed. Then the King and Queen, running after him. Then Dora's brothers and Johnny's mother, too uncomfortable to stay any longer, not really knowing what was the whole fuss between all those people and not wanting to take part in any of this either.

"Soon Johnny and Dora found themselves all alone at the big table, sunk into an awkward silence. When their eyes finally met, Dora suddenly let out, standing up, 'I… think I'm gonna head back to my room now.' Johnny agreed, leaving the room too. He didn't gain his own quarters just yet, though.

"Instead, he went straight to the guests' room, where his girlfriend was staying the night, to apologise to her for everything.

"The day after, the wedding was called off, and Ted left to go back to the 82th land of the Brooklyn Forest, never to be heard of again. The realm was in shock by this sudden news, but not one of its subjects dared questioning their sovereigns' decision nor ask what happened.

"Only Johnny asked Dora, after she asked him about how things went with his girlfriend – pretty well, he had to admit, as she had forgiven him and they were back to being happy.

"She told him then that she'd spent the whole night talking with her parents, explaining them everything, and that they'd come to the conclusion that their daughter's well-being was, and would always ever be, a lot more important than any rule, tradition or alliance. They were willing to wait until she found the right prince to marry.

"She didn't tell them, or him, that, but she wasn't quite sure anymore that 'the one' for her was going to be a prince. More of a certain soldier.

"Who was still pretty much in love with Sophie, though. But, as weeks passed, it turned out she wasn't as much attached to him as he was, and she ended up breaking both his heart and up with him at the same time. Both friends were free of other lovers then – which didn't mean a happy ending was in sight for our two main protagonists yet.

"For a while, things went back to what they were before that summer they got separated and everything changed; when it was so simple to just be best friends. They truly believed everything between them was now in the past, until Johnny got framed then taken hostage by some enemy he made and Dora got the biggest fright of her life.

"Thankfully, with the help of Rosie, they managed to find him before anything happened to him.

"A few weeks after that, another ball was thrown to celebrate the union between Lina's mother and Charly's father, and the friends' flirty behavior skyrocket back.

"Johnny realised then that he still had feelings for his friend. Surely they never left him in the first place, from the moment in realised he l _iked_ her the night of their fake-date.

"But, before he got the chance to find the guts to tell Dora all about it, another prince landed in their realm, having some business to do with the King and his army. It wasn't any casual prince – Prince Dave Majors, a very handsome, very __famous__ prince across all of the 39 lands of the Brooklyn Forest.

"And, of course, as soon as he landed eyes on her and exchanged some words with her, Prince Dave got his heart set on Dora, informing Johnny while they were having a drink together at the tavern that he was going to ask for her hand once the mission would be over. Johnny was desperate by the news.

"Because he was sure Dora would accept to marry him, this time. Prince Dave was absolutely perfect – she couldn't possibly dream of any better match.

"'Did she do the double-tuck yet?' Rosie asked when her colleague came complaining to her about his love life the day after.

"'What?' he didn't understand what she meant with that.

"She showed him then, explaining herself, 'When Dora really likes someone, she puts her hair behind both ears at the same time,' backing up her words by action.

"Turned out she hadn't, no. At least not that he'd noticed her doing it. Which meant there was maybe still a bit of hope for Johnny.

"And there was indeed because it appeared Dora declined Prince's Dave proposal a few days later. She simply wasn't interested, she let her friend know when he asked her what happened. He didn't see it, but when he left her that night to go back to his own room, she 'double-tucked' __him__ as she watched him go away with a sigh.

"Not so long after, Johnny and Dora shared their very first kiss. It wasn't a kiss that came from love, though. Not yet.

"Indeed, Johnny had been given some mission to tail up a man that was accused of being a thief to see if the assumptions were true or not. Dora, who had nothing better to do and was bored of staying at the castle, prayed her father to accompany him. Johnny wasn't too keen on such a thing.

"He still liked Dora, but knew as a fact she wasn't ready to find someone just yet, so he was afraid a trip with only the two of them would trigger his feelings and simply hurt him too much. But after she asked him what was going on, and he spilled out the truth, they came to an agreement they could do that.

"It was going to be a fun trip between friends, and they were good at working together anyway.

"So, backed up by Rosie and Charly, they followed the man into a tavern, where he and a woman stopped to get some dinner. For the sake of their mission, and not to be suspected, Dora came up with the idea of pretending to be a couple, so that no-one would be suspicious of their coming into the tavern.

"And, one thing leading to another, while their cover was about to get blown up by said man, Johnny reacted quickly, without truly thinking about what he was doing, and kissed Dora in front of their suspect. It was quick, but enough for both of them to feel their hearts explode in their chest.

"Fortunately enough, it appeared also very real, as the man didn't seem to get any suspicion about them.

"After that, they tried to remain professional, acting like nothing happened and that this kiss didn't affect them, until they got all the information they needed, and were able to go back to the castle, only to come to the bad news that Officer Hold was getting transferred elsewhere, and had to say his goodbyes immediately.

"Having both grown into loving the man, his leaving devastated them.

"'I knew I'd find you here,' Johnny entered the archives room of the castle later, where Dora was hiding, processing what had just happened.

"They chatted for some time then, talking about it all, until Johnny finally took a step closer to Dora, and did what he'd so often dreamed of during the past years: he kissed her. She didn't push him – had done it enough for a lifetime, and was tired of fighting against her own feelings too. So she kissed him back.

"'I really like you,' the soldier let her know once they parted, both watching the other with bliss in their eyes, not really realising yet that what they just did was __real__.

"'I like you too,' the princess confessed, and it made Johnny smile."

In her bed, little Sarah squeals with happiness at hearing her father's words. "Johnny and Dora are in love!" she exclaims with excitement when he counts the story of their very first __true__ kiss – the one that truly mattered, the first of a long series of kisses.

Jake looks up from the book and towards her, a little chuckle escaping his throat and his chest filling with endearment. "They are indeed," he agrees.

She's never been more right. They are in love, of a love that isn't going to fade any time soon, only grows stronger each day, no matter how long they've been together already.

"You might think this first kiss sealed Johnny and Dora's happy ending, but no: the world still had a few adventures to put ahead of them.

"Indeed, as Johnny still wasn't a member of royalty, they first decided to keep their dalliance a secret, until they could figure out a way to make things work. It didn't last long, though, and soon everyone was aware of their little love story. And, while some people got really excited (Charly, to name but one), others weren't too keen of the news.

"Like Johnny's new commanding officer, for example, who prevented him from being with Dora as long as he would be under his command.

"It was considered inappropriate, you see, for a soldier to court a princess when their duty was to look after their family and their people.

"Thankfully though, Officer Hold made his comeback, and managed to convince Officer Pembroke – the new leader of the army – to leave the two lovers be.

"And a few weeks after that, with Johnny's help, he was able to regain his place as the commanding officer of the army of the 99th land of the Brooklyn Forest.

"For a while then, things went on smoothly. Johnny and Dora, in-between minor adventures, spent most of their time together, their liking of each other quickly turning into __love__ into __true love__ as time went by and their relationship grew stronger and stronger.

"'I love you,' Dora told Johnny for the very first time during a sailing trip around the 39 lands of the Brooklyn Forest he had been offered for the two of them by some stranger at the port one day, that turned out to be a ruse from his all-times nemesis, the famous bandit Dog Juby, to save his life.

"They were dancing in the ballroom of the giant boat after having figured of the whole 'Dog Juby problem' (and after he succeeded in escaping Johnny's grasp… _once_ _ _again__ ) when she let out the words after thanking him for changing his plans of doing nothing for a whole week to doing all the activities she had planned with her.

"Of course he loved her too – with his whole soul – more than he'd ever loved anyone else, even. But the man had always struggled with emotions, so he didn't reply with the words right away. Until he did, stopping his movement and looking her right into the eye as he said, 'I love you too.'

"She smiled, heart filling with bliss at hearing it from him, and they both leaned forward, towards the other to meet in a tender kiss, full of __love__ for each other and happiness.

"'I love you _so much_ ,' she let him know of her strong feelings a few months later, after having been separated for a short while, with Johnny gone on a dangerous mission. She'd been afraid she would never get the chance to let him know that not only did she __love__ him indeed, she even loved him __so much__. More than anyone before.

"This time, he didn't hesitate one second when he told her back, 'I love you so much too.'

"Unfortunately, right after that, Johnny had to leave __again__. It turned out that his commanding officer and himself were in danger, and needed to be put on a private island, far away from everything (and everyone) to keep them safe until the threat was gone for good.

"It took a little more than six months to neutralize it. Six months before Johnny was able to come back home. To come back to __Dora__. But he did, eventually.

"And, with his comeback, King Victor, who until then had followed the two young people's love story only from afar, thinking it was just a fling for his daughter before finding the true prince she was going to marry, got involved into it when he realised he'd been wrong all along, and what she and the soldier had was a lot more than that.

"The truth went out one night, during a dinner the three of them were having together, and after the sovereign told Johnny about his thoughts regarding him and his daughter being in a __romantic__ relationship together.

"'Your father thinks I'm not good enough for you,' he let out when Dora asked him what was going on with him, seeing well enough that something was bothering him.

"'What?!' she turned out to her father, eyes wide open in shock.

"'I wanted his approval, and he said…'

"'What?!' she cut her boyfriend off, now looking at him with her brows furrowed. She couldn't believe what was happening right now. She'd thought all of this was behind her, but apparently it wasn't the case. She sighed, before letting go of everything she had inside.

"'I thought ever since we agreed on breaking off my wedding with Prince Ted, I'd be the master of my own decisions here,' Dora blurred out, her eyes fixed on both her father and Johnny, apparently very upset in both of them. 'You two are acting like it doesn't matter what I feel, and everything is about __you__ only.'

"She stopped one second, only to take a deep breath in order to calm down a little, then went on with her speech.

"'Dad, you're the one who told me from now on I could choose whoever I wanted to be with. So Johnny, it doesn't matter what he thinks of you, or us. The only thing that matters is if __I__ want you too. And you know I do. I love you,' she said more tenderly this time, taking his hand in hers and offering him a smile that he soon matched with one of his own.

"Both men remained silent after that. The princess was right. And the king had to admit, even though he was still skeptical about his ruling abilities, that Johnny seemed to make his daughter happy – he only had to look at her when she was around him to understand it.

"Which was all he wanted for his little girl – who had grown up a lot, and so fast, turning into a wonderful, independent woman. A perfect future queen.

"After that insightful conversation, things went back to normal in Johnny and Dora's lives. Normal being for them to end up separated at least once a year after only a few month of break and happiness together, that is.

"This time, while on duty in another realm, he and his partner Rosie got framed as they were working on trying to prove how corrupted some sovereign's of that other land was, and were both sent to the dungeons there for treason against the crown of that particular realm.

"The princess begged her father to do something and free them; unfortunately, he had no power in a land that wasn't his own. Her daughter was so desperate after that, and worked so hard in search of an evidence that her boyfriend didn't do anything wrong, he finally understood that he was 'the one' for her, no matter what he first thought.

"He knew his blessing didn't matter anymore, but still if it were, now he would be glad to give it, and welcome Johnny into the royal family.

"That's why he helped her and the rest of the two soldiers' squad to get them back home as soon as possible. And, after he did so, he was happy to hear a knock on his door, and Johnny informing him he was planning on asking his daughter in marriage (while never asking for his permission in the process) before leaving as fast as he entered the room, not letting him time to react in any way to his words – he was too afraid of him, to tell the truth.

"King Victor simply smiled at hearing the news.

"The young man had thought about that so many times, especially while rotting in the dungeons, he knew exactly how he was going to propose – he was going to do it during the annual Halloween Heist that had become a true tradition at the castle, ever since he started it with his officer four years earlier.

"This year's prize was a golden belt with the inscription 'Amazing Human/Genius' written on it. The winner would be the one in possession of it at midnight. And, after a long night of fighting against one another, Dora was finally the one proudly holding on the belt as the twelve strikes of the clock started ringing.

"Or so she thought. Because, as she was bragging about it to Johnny while they were both alone in the archives, he told her with a nervous grin to give it a better look before assuming victory. Scared of what he might have come up with, that he could have bested her somehow, she quickly read the inscription out loud.

"'Princess Dora,' she read, 'will you marry me?' All of a sudden her eyes were back on her boyfriend, who was now on one knee, showing off a wonderful ring at her.

"She couldn't quite believe it at first. Though it was a logical next step in their relationship, she still first assumed all of this was just a ruse, only some plan that was part of the heist. But then Johnny started speaking, and made the most beautiful speech she'd ever heard, pointing out all of her qualities and what he loved about her and she understood.

"This was really happening. Finally they would be able to officially share their love __forever__.

"'Princess Dora, will you marry me?' he repeated what was inscribed on the belt, and of course she agreed.

"'Johnny, I will marry you,' she answered, and both of them let out a relieved sigh before coming towards the other. Johnny put the ring on Dora's finger before kissing her.

"'I love you so much,' she told him when they parted, and he smiled, true bliss shining in his eyes as realisation was hitting him – he was going to marry his princess.

"When they all learned about the engagement, Charly fainted in happiness, and the rest of their friends and family simply congratulated them cheerfully. A few months later, then, after weeks and weeks of tight plannings the day came and Johnny and Dora __finally__ got married. And with that, they lived…"

"… happily ever after, and gave birth to a wonderful little girl," a voice behind Jake's back interrupts him in his tale, finishing his sentence for him. Surprised, not having heard someone enter the room, or even the house before, he turns around, only to come face-to-face with Amy, leaning against the doorway and listening to him counting their story to their daughter.

"Mommy!" the child notices her too, apparently still wide awake, and rushes out of her bed and straight into her mother's embrace.

"Hey baby," the woman greets her with a tender smile, gently kissing her on the cheek. "Still not asleep, huh?"

"I wanted to see you… I missed you today," Sarah sadly answers her, and looks up at her with such puppy eyes, Amy can't be mad at her for staying up after curfew.

She simply melts at the sight and sound of it, holding her tighter.

"How long have you been there?" Jake asks, coming towards the two girls of his life and welcoming his wife with a chaste kiss of his own.

"Long enough to realise how good of a storyteller you are," she jokes back, then puts her attention back to the little girl, who's yawning a lot. "Let's put you back to bed, okay baby?"

Too tired to let out another word, the child only nods as an answer. Both her parents wish her goodnight, offer her a kiss, then leave the room in the dark.

Once in the kitchen, Jake looks up at the clock, and realises it's not even 10 p.m. yet. "I didn't think you'd be back home that early," he tells Amy.

"My sergeant offered to stay and help me out so that I wouldn't have to leave too late," she explains with a smile. "And I have to say, I'm glad she did. Otherwise I would have missed you counting our story to our daughter," she confesses. "It was beautiful."

"Yeah, about that…" the detective suddenly approaches his wife and encircles her waist with both his arms to pull her closer to his chest, a playful grin appearing on his face as he does so and goes on, "I can tell you all about a whole new chapter of it, if you want," he whispers in her ear.

"Oh yeah?" Amy immediately enters in his game, and lets a small giggle escape her throat as Jake starts kissing her neck. "What's it about?" she asks, playing along.

"It's about how Princess Dora and Johnny worked __really hard__ to give their daughter a sibling," he draws himself a bit from her and says with a wink, in a voice full of innuendos about his intentions.

Amy truly laughs this time. "Mmmh, I like this tale already," she replies, and lets him lead her to their room, lying her down on their mattress, kissing her all the way.

Even though in Terry's fairytale, getting married was their 'happy ending,' in their real life, it truly hasn't been.

On the contrary, it's only been a happy __beginning__ , with so many more wonderful adventures to live together, and memories to create for their family, like this particular moment is…


	33. Keep Calm (It's Paddy's Day!)

**Lmao I had it done by the 17th but it looks like I forgot to post it here too at the time so… here it is now :')**

* * *

"Seriously Peralta? _Kiss Me I'm Irish_? You're not even Irish!"

First thing Amy notices when she enters Shaw's bar that night, joining her friends and colleagues at their table for an evening of celebrating St. Patrick's Day together, is the green printed shirt her partner is wearing for the event.

"Maybe, but no-one else in this bar knows that," the concerned man answers with a wink, apparently rather proud of himself, just as he shifts a bit in his booth to leave her some space to sit next to him. "Plus it was the last decent St. Patrick's shirt they had left in my size anyway. Don't I look cute in it, though?" he grins at her.

"Super cute Jakey," Charles – who's wearing a similar green shirt, with only the inscription on it being different – immediately cuts into the conversation with a comment of his own, not leaving the woman the time to say anything. "Sure everyone will want to kiss you tonight. Wouldn't you, Amy?" he hints, but she simply winces in return.

"See? Told ya!" the male brunette brags before high-fiving his best friend, which makes her roll her eyes in exasperation.

She doesn't have time to argue more with them, though, because soon some stranger comes to their table to talk to Jake as she hails him. "I'm sorry to bother you guys, but I couldn't not see what's written on your shirt and… you're really from Ireland?!"

He offers his friend a victorious smirk before turning his attention back to the newcomer. "Of course! 100% true Irishman here – Leprechauns and whatnot," he lies.

"Grand!" she seems pleased by his statement. "I am too. Well, my grandparents are. From Galway, actually. What part of Ireland are you from?"

Taken off-guard by such a question he didn't see coming, the detective remains speechless at first.

"I– huh–…," he doesn't quite know what to say to keep his cover intact.

This time, it's Amy's turn to smile in amusement.

"You know what?" he quickly finds his voice again, though. "What about you go ahead and I meet you at the counter in 5 minutes so that we can talk about where we're from and why we love Ireland so much in front of a beer?"

"Sounds great," the woman nods with a grin, then leaves the group as fast as she appeared, going towards the bar to wait for him.

As soon as they're alone again, Amy can't help but mock her partner. "So, Peralta, where are you from and why do you love Ireland so much?!"

"Ha-ha, very funny," he fakes a laugh. "But seriously guys, where's a good place to live in Ireland? Wait, you know what, nevermind. I'll just check that on the Internet."

He suddenly falls silent, taking out his phone in search of some useful information he could quickly gather about the Emerald island.

"Or, y'know, you could simply tell her the truth. Girls like that generally," his friend intervenes once again, but Jake doesn't listen, too focused on what he's looking for – and that he eventually finds, letting out a cry of joy when he does so.

" _Bingpot!_ Now, if you'll excuse me, someone's gotta be kissed tonight," he points to his chest when he stands up, now ready to join his newest encounter.

As she watches him leave, Amy can't help but roll her eyes at him.

"I'm as disappointed in him as you are," Charles suddenly gets closer to her, and she looks at him, confused. "I thought he bought the shirt for you after what happened the other day, not so that he could kiss some stranger at a bar," he sighs.

"I'm not disappointed in Jake. Jake can kiss whoever he wants, I don't care, Jake and I are only coworkers," she nervously exclaims back to his words, suddenly on the defensive. "We already told you it was just for work."

 _It_ being them making out – twice – in order not to blow up their cover as a newly-engaged couple during one of their missions. But was it _really_ only for the sake of their job? She remembers perfectly how she felt, first time Jake's lips unexpectedly met with hers.

And it definitely wasn't the reaction a simple _coworker_ would bring on you.

"Sure thing," the older man ironically answers, seeming to think the same thing as she is.

He leaves her alone then, and she puts her gaze back on the counter, where Jake and the stranger are chatting and apparently having fun together. Her chest hurts at the sight, but she can't blame her colleague for doing that – moving on.

Not when _she_ 's the one who pushed him away, telling him of her rule of not dating cops when _he_ wanted to date _her_.

She can only blame herself for falling for him despite that and not doing anything about it when she had the chance…

* * *

"Look who's back! Where's your Irish friend? She got tired of all the amazing stories you had to tell her about Ireland already?"

Later in the evening, Jake is back at the table. Amy is the only one sitting there, with all the others having left to play a game of pool a few feet away.

"Nah, her girlfriend showed up and they went to a 'more Irish' pub to end the night there. They asked me if I wanted to join them, but, y'know… I told them I had to go back to you guys. Turns out she was just excited to be able to talk about her country with someone," he explains, taking back his sit next to her.

"Well, I'm sorry your shirt didn't have more effect on women than you wanted to," the female detective offers him an apologetic, though a bit teasing too, smile – she still finds it stupid, after all.

"That's okay," he shrugs. "Seems like you were right. Wanna drink something?" he offers, not wanting to linger more on that particular topic.

He wouldn't acknowledge that out loud, but there's only _one_ woman he wishes his shirt would have an effect on and she'd kiss him anyway. _Her._

But he knows that's never going to happen. That night they played-pretend was nothing but just a one-time thing. They cleared that already.

Amy happily agrees to his request, and they both head to the bar. "One Guinness, with blackcurrant, please," she orders once they're there.

The man next to her gasps. "What?!" he turns to her, mouth wide open in exaggerated shock. "You're hurting my Irish heart," he exclaims, putting a hand on it to back-up his words. "How can you do that to us Irish people? Add blackcurrant to your Guinness?!"

It makes her let out a chuckle, just as she rolls her eyes.

"One Guinness for me too," he tells the bartender. " _Without_ blackcurrant, of course," he finds necessary to add.

After that, they remain silent for a short while, patiently waiting for their drinks to be served.

When they finally come, and they click their pints together, Jake cheers, "Slauncha!"

Amy frowns, confused. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Jake confesses with embarrassment. "That's what the Irish girl said when we clicked glasses together earlier, so…"

"Ooooh, 'sláinte' you mean?" the brunette suddenly seems to understand as she repeats the word – but her friend doesn't hear the difference between that and what _he_ just said. "That's Irish for 'cheers', yeah," she explains.

He looks at her, surprised. "How do you know that?"

"Didn't I tell you? I'm part Irish," she mocks him, and it makes him laugh.

"So _you_ 're the one we should kiss for good luck tonight then?" Jake teases.

He expects a comeback to his comment, some 'you wish', or maybe even a hit in the side for being so bold as he's used to get, but what he gets instead is much more surprising.

She doesn't know if it's the alcohol coursing through her veins, or if she's just tired of pushing him away like she did for the past weeks and glad to see he's still an option despite all this, so indeed instead of answering with some banter of her own like she usually would in such a situation, she just puts her pint back down and closes the small remaining gap between them.

Grabs him by his stupid shirt that really suits him well, no matter what she told him earlier (green goes surprisingly well on the guy, she has to admit), and _kisses him_ (even though he's not Irish – she couldn't care less about that right now.)

It takes a few seconds for Jake to understand what's going on, but when he eventually does, his only response is to kiss her back, letting his hands fall at her hip to keep her close.

"I knew that shirt would be a great purchase in the end," he can't help but brag when they eventually part, too puzzled by the fact that _Amy Santiago kissed him for realz it really happened and we're not undercover this time_ to think about better things to say in such a moment.

"Shut up." She lets out a giggle while she shakes her head and gently hits him on the side before pulling him back to her in another kiss.


	34. Every Breath Every Hour Has Come to This

**HUGE SPOILERS FOR JAKE AND AMY'S WEDDING – read at your own risk.**

* * *

It's not what they planned, not what she imagined it would be and yet in a sense, it's everything Amy ever wanted.

It's not the beautiful Hogwarts-like mansion with its professional kitchen, private library, seven bathrooms and outdoor reception area. It's not the rec centre and its basketball court and only one working bathroom in deep Staten Island. It's nothing of the sort. But it's a lot better than that.

It's the place where she and Jake met – the place where it all started; their partnership, friendship, _relationship_ – from the first shake of hands to the first case they worked on together, to their first kiss then him bending on one knee almost seven months ago leading to that moment right now: her going down to the aisle.

(There's no real 'aisle,' though. Jake's simply waiting at the other end of the street, with Terry by his side, who's been assigned to officiate the wedding.)

It's their colleagues-become-friends-become-family all gathered together and smiling at her with true happiness in their eyes as she slowly passes by their seats, walking on a carpet of shredded papers from old files of cases the couple worked on together along all the years.

It's Rosa's face as lit up as she's never seen it before, holding hands with her girlfriend next to her as she nods at her. It's Charles already deep in tears of joy. It's Gina filming the scene with her phone for them to remember later.

It's Terry's hand on Jake's shoulder as they both have their eyes glued on her, and Captain Holt's arm hooked with hers, leading her towards the love of her life.

And, most importantly, it's _him_ – it's Jake looking at her as if she's one of the seven wonders of this world, mouth half-open in awe and salty pearls prickling at the corner of those eyes he can't seem to take off of her while each new step she makes takes her closer to him. Closer to their bright shared future of _husband_ and _wife_.

Today's been a long, stressful, full of unexpected events day, but here they are now. Here she is now, in front of this precinct that became so much more than just her workplace over the years; in front of those detectives who became so much more than just her colleagues over the years (she's _marrying_ one of them, for world's sake), and nothing could top that, no matter what they had in mind in the first place.

She didn't know what she agreed for when Jake offered to _screw it_ and get married right here, right now, but she has to admit… this is everything. Everything they need and want. It's her future husband and her and their Nine-Nine family. Just them.

Eventually she reaches his side, and her boss lets her go with a gentle squeeze of her hand and a pat on her fiancé's shoulder before joining his place beside his own love. "Hi beautiful," Jake locks his blurry orbs with hers as he greets her and it's all it takes for a tear of her own to fall down her cheek.

 _This is it._ The moment she's been waiting for since he popped the question (and even before that), the moment Charles weirdly predicted all those years ago.

(Tell 2009 Amy that weirdo was right, in the end, and she'd laugh at you for being so stupid.)

(Who's stupid now, huh?)

Her heart is pounding in her chest and she barely listens to what Terry, standing between them, is saying. She replays her vows in her head, over and over, as if she hasn't repeated them constantly for the past month already. In front of her, Jake is grinning at her, with a smile she's sure is matching her own on her face.

But then suddenly, everything falls silent around her – and in her mind – when the Sarge invites him to begin with his own vows. He rubs his hands together before he starts, and she knows him enough to understand he's nervous. She offers him a reassuring look in return, and he takes the floor.

She's crying within a few seconds of his speech.

For a man who used to struggle replying to a simple 'I love you,' he truly knows how to talk about his feelings now. "Someone told me once that the good thing about being an adult is that you can create your own family," he turns to Holt, nodding at him in understanding.

(It might have been four years, he's never forgotten that piece of advice.)

"And I already knew at the time that the Nine-Nine was that new family, but I didn't think someone would _officially_ become it. Now, thanks to you… it _is_ real. You're my family, Ames, and I can't wait to see it grow."

He goes on, and she remains speechless for a while when he's finished talking, just to process everything, letting every beautiful word he let out sink in and warm her soul. It's hard to go after him. There's nothing strong enough to express how much she cares about this man, to be honest. But Amy still tries.

"You put so much fun and laughter into my life. Getting married in front of that precinct wasn't part of my plans," she chuckles, "but falling in love with my partner from that said precinct wasn't either. And yet, it's the best thing that ever happened to me. _You_ 're the best thing that ever happened to me. And I can promise you I won't ever let you go."

When she's done, she puts the wedding band on the hand she's been holding all along. After that, Terry speaks again, making them say their 'I do's then inviting Jake to kiss the bride. And, as their lips meet, sealing their union for good and everyone cheers them (and Charles lets out a huge sob), one thought occurs to Amy's mind.

It's not what they planned, not what she imagined it would be but yet in a sense, it's the best wedding ceremony she could have asked for.

It's the place where they met, it's her colleagues-become-friend-become-family gathered all together, and most importantly, it's her husband's hand in hers and their wedding rings shining in the setting sun as they make their way all back from the aisle.


	35. Take Away the Darkness

**Title and lyrics are from 'Secrets' by Wild Wild Horses.**

* * *

 **Take Away the Darkness (All My Secrets Are Yours)**

 _« Tame the wild nights  
And all the demons I was hiding in my silence.  
Scream out all the words you should have heard  
That I let burn and never spoke since.  
You've seen behind the smile I know it's time to let this go… »_

This is it. The light at the end of the tunnel.

Jake is slowly walking past the different cells of South Carolina's jail, what has been is new 'home' for the past two months, eyes fixed in front of him, towards his freedom and more importantly the love of his life, who is not so patiently waiting for him to pass the front door, the very last thing separating them from one another.

She's glowing, is the first thing he notices from afar, with her wide smile and sparkling orbs staring back at him, surrounded in a halo of light probably coming from the window behind her, and he can't wait to finally be able to take her in his arms for as long as he wishes to, without some warden forcing him away from her during one of her (too rare) visits.

Each new step is taking him closer to being _alive_ again.

But then all of a sudden a breeze of cold air comes brushing his skin, and he looks away only for a split second, and when he puts his gaze back on the woman at the other side of the corridor, he's met with a second pair of eyes he knows all too well behind her, and a grin that is nothing but terrifying as _he_ shows him what he's holding: a knife.

Romero's threatening Amy's life.

Panic starts coursing through Jake's veins as she doesn't seem to notice the new presence next to her, her orbs and her whole attention put on him and him only, never letting go. It doesn't make any sense. Last time he saw him, Romero was still behind bars, menacing his own life. There's no way he could have escaped his cell.

And still, there he is.

He wants to warn Amy – to tell her to leave, but not a word goes out when he opens his mouth. And, when he tries to let her know with some gestures, she simply waves back, not understanding his signs correctly.

"Time to pay your debt," the criminal's voice suddenly echoes through the walls, and in his mind, taking Jake out of his attempts at saving the love of his life.

And just like that, the light is gone, darkness filling out the room instead. Amy's smile disappears, replaced by a grimace when her assailant stabs her, his knife breaking through the skin of her back before removing it instantly, leaving the woman bleed to death with a mischievous, victorious look on his face as he stares at his enemy.

Jake's first reaction is to try and run towards her before she falls on the hard floor, but he soon realises he can't move anymore.

He's stuck where he is, halfway between his old cell and the exit door, as helpless as he's ever been while he watches her lose her balance and wincing in agony.

He screams. Empties his lungs asking, _pleading_ for someone to call 911, or at least _do_ something, _anything_ to try and save her when it seems like he's unable to do it himself, but they're all alone in there. Even Romero has disappeared now. There's only him, and her, and that door with its bars separating them from one another.

The pain crushes his chest and wets his cheeks as he lets himself fall in defeat.

The tears are all too real, when Jake finally opens his eyes, emerging from the horrible, _vivid_ nightmare he just had. It takes him some time to understand where he is, adjusting to the new, less scary darkness surrounding him, heart still racing in his chest and breathing heavily. But when he does, his first reaction is to turn around in his bed.

A sigh escapes his throat as he comes face-to-face with the silhouette lying next to him. _She's here,_ and she looks safe and sound. Still, he wants to touch her back, just to make sure she's not hurt and all of this was _really_ just a bad dream, but he's stopped in his gesture as soon as he approaches her and sees her gaze on him in the dark.

He must have screamed for real too at some point, because she's already wide awake, watching him with a concerned look on her face. She doesn't complain, though.

Doesn't even say a word.

Instead, she simply reaches for his hand from under the covers, and gently intertwine their fingers together. "It's okay," she eventually whispers, skimming her hand up and then down his arm in a tender stroke, never breaking eye-contact with him. "I'm here. We're home. Everything's okay," she repeats the words in a soothing voice.

She knows what all of this is about. He's had the same nightmare for the past three days, after all – every time startling him up in sweat and tears.

It's been less than a week he's been out of jail _for real_ , and though at first the adrenaline of being back prevented him from breaking down, he's now entered a bad phase, reliving the same dreams he had back when he was in prison and the Romero threat was luring upon him, from the instant he was asked to play the snitch.

He thought having Amy by his side would change everything. He thought the smell of home would scare those thoughts away.

But apparently it doesn't. Not yet, anyway. He's still haunted by those demons, hidden deep inside his soul, waiting for when he's at his most vulnerable, void of any distractions to go out again.

"Prison was hell, Amy," he sits down on the bed and tells her – and it's the first time he's not repressing his feelings and chooses to talk about them instead. His girlfriend never pressed him to share what he went through with her the previous nights, knowing well enough that he'd do it when, and _if_ , he wants to. Which apparently is tonight.

She listens to him, to everything he has to say. She gasps, she reacts to the horrors he lived or witnessed, she holds onto him but she never interrupts him once. He keeps his gaze on her as he speaks, as if looking at her helps him go on, helps him remember all of this is over and behind him. Behind them _both_.

Because she didn't tell him, didn't want to bother him with it when he had to deal with his own problems, but he knows all too well his time away didn't affect only him. He saw it in the way she she's not so reluctant anymore when he forces her to remain in bed after her three alarms go off in the mornings to snuggle up a little longer, or when she lets her gaze linger on him more than usual during dinner, small tears prickling in her eyes at the realisation that _he's back home_.

 _She_ had to spend two months alone in their apartment after all, wondering about how he's doing and missing him just as much as he missed her. She went through her own personal hell too.

Eventually he falls silent, having shared it all. Amy is crying in front of him, a few quiet salty pearls going down her cheeks, and he draws his hand away from the covers and up her face to cup it, gently removing them with his thumb before pulling her towards him and kissing her hair.

His heart is still pounding, Amy can sense it as she starts drawing some random patterns on his chest through his shirt with her finger. "Close your eyes," she offers then.

Jake wants to argue. He might feel slightly better now, but he's still afraid the image of her lifeless form in a puddle of blood comes back as soon as he does so.

She insists though, and eventually he obliges. There's a few seconds of silence after that, and then, all of a sudden, Amy's hand is in his hair, gently soothing its curls, and her humming voice fills the air. It's low, and in a language he can't understand – some Spanish, he can at least recognise that – but it happens, within a moment of listening and concentrating only on it, to be pretty relaxing, he has to admit.

It's something she's learned from her own mother, when she was younger and would suffer from another of her panic attacks – during those times, Camila would always hold her close and sing to her to take away the darkness that was eating her inside. And it _did_ work. So, the brunette wishes she can do the same with her boyfriend now.

Never stopping what she's doing, or making him open his eyes again, she invites him to take back his place lying on the bed, finding her own spot against his side, with her head on his chest. On instinct his arm comes wrapping her at her waist to pull her even closer to himself, just as their legs tangle up together under the covers.

"I love you so much," he lets out in a whisper, pressing a kiss in her raven hair.

It takes some more time, but eventually, lulled by her relaxing voice, Jake falls back to sleep. Amy can hear and feel his heart beating slowly, _evenly_ against her ear now. She doesn't close her own eyes just yet. Instead she quietly listens to his breathings, watching his now more peaceful face and wishing for it to remain like this forever.

She hates seeing the man she loves hurt, and being unable to help him other than by just being _there_ and show him he's not alone anymore, waiting for things to eventually get better.

She knows they'll get there somehow, though. They already did it once, after Florida. And even if this is not quite the same, a different kind of pain… They can make through it a second time – as long as they're _together_.

"I love you so much too," she answers his words from before, and for the first time in three long nights, she sees his mouth move up in a smile in his sleep after that.


	36. No Distance Too Far

**Pen Pals AU. Jake and Amy have been exchanging letters for about a year when he gets tired of it, needing _more_.**

* * *

Jake has taken a lot of on impulse moves in his life, but _this –_ this is a whole new level of 'just do it already and don't think about the consequences'.

Everything started about a year ago, when Gina pranked him into getting him into a pen pals program, where he got matched with a certain Amy Santiago from London, and she sent him a letter introducing herself and telling him about how excited she was about this program and learning to know each other better thanks to it.

 _Nerd_ , was the first word that came across his mind when he went through the no more than 5 pages of neat and stylish handwriting.

Why he answered her back then is still a mystery to him. But the fact is he did, and what was at first just a game for him quickly turned into a weekly exchanges with that stranger on the other side of the ocean. He thought the excitation procured by such an uncommon way of communicating would quickly fade away, but it didn't.

Quite the opposite, actually – the more he learned about Amy and exchanged with her, the harder it became to have to wait until her next letter arrived.

She'd grown on him, from a simple acquaintance to a friend and… even _more_ than that – falling _hard_ for the woman in the course of the past months.

Which lead him to right now, having travelled miles to end up at her door without a warning first.

Well, that's not entirely true. He _did_ tell her in his last letter that he'd 'like to meet her for realz'. But he didn't wait for an answer, since only an hour later he was booking a flight for London departing the next day from JFK's airport in New York. And here he is now, waiting in front of her apartment to find the guts to eventually knock.

He's on the verge of chickening out, though, thinking about how bad an idea this spontaneous decision he made is, after all.

Because maybe she doesn't want to see him. Maybe she likes what they have, communicating by mail only. Maybe she has other plans for the day – for the week he's staying here – and she won't have time for him. Maybe she doesn't even feel the same way as he does for her.

Maybe he's just a distraction to her with writing him letters, like he's been to so many people in his life before.

He quickly chases all those depressing thoughts away. Now's not the time – he can't back off and simply turn around. Not when he's gone so far.

Not when his best friend is waiting for him in the hotel room they rented for the week after insisting on joining him on his trip (' _Jake, you're about to meet your soulmate, of course I need to be here!'_ ) and there's no way he'll let him go back to New York before having met her first anyway.

So, eventually, after some more reflecting time, he manages to bring himself to knock.

One. Two. Three times.

He locks his hands together in an unconscious move, rubbing them in nervousness as he not so patiently waits for someone – for _her_ – to open to him.

But nothing happens. There's not a sound coming from the other side of the door, and it quickly becomes obvious the apartment is empty, and Amy isn't home. A strange mix of relief and disappointment takes over Jake's heart as he moves away and towards the elevator, ready to leave and come back later for better luck hopefully.

But, as he calls it, he hears footstep coming up the stairs, and soon enough he's met with a woman, raven hair cascading on her shoulders and brown eyes fixing on him in surprise. He's seen only one picture of Amy on that website that paired them together, but he looked at it enough over the past year to be able to recognise her immediately.

(She's a lot more stunning now than on the photography, though, he thinks – and he already found her beautiful.)

He freezes, as if paralyzed, unable to draw his gaze away from her as realisation hits him: this is it. The moment he's been dreaming of for weeks now.

"May I… help you?" the woman asks first, then takes a step closer to him, and something in her eyes flicks instantly. "Jake?!" she lets out in shock, finally recognising him too.

He offers her a nervous smile in response.

"What are you doing here?!" she asks again – the confusion is clearly audible in her voice.

"I– huh–…" He's at a loss of word.

 _I travelled miles to come and see you because I'm in love with you – you're so beautiful, by the way,_ he wants to spill it out – but maybe that's not the best way of starting a conversation when seeing each other for the first time, even after exchanging tons and tons of letters throughout the whole year.

He swallows, closing his eyes for a split second to regain some composure, before putting them back on her. "I just… wanted to say hi. Y'know… _for realz_ , this time," he tries to play it cool, as if this is no big deal at all when it clearly is, but then she remains speechless, and his starts rethinking every decision he's ever made in his life.

"But I realise now it was a bad idea," he goes on then, lowering his gaze, unable to support hers anymore. "I'm sorry for intruding in your life this way, I should have asked first."

That's only when Amy takes another step towards him, a small smile he can't see lifting up her features, heart warming at his confession. Once at his level, she puts a hand on his wrist in a reassuring move, and he starts, a rush of electricity taking over his whole body as an answer to this simple gesture.

He stares at her fingers curled around his arm for a beat – _Amy Santiago is touching him_ , he can't help but be amazed.

All of a sudden, this meeting is becoming all too real. Eventually, he looks up at her.

"You travelled all the way from New York to here just to 'say hi'?" she asks him then, when his eyes are back on her. She can't seem to believe it, watching him with puzzlement and wonder in her shining orbs. No one has ever done such a sweet thing for her in her whole life – it's overwhelming.

Jake simply nods in return, and for a moment they remain like this – in kind of an awkward silence in front of Amy's apartment.

"D'you wanna come in?" she ends up offering, and of course he agrees.

Her place is everything the man imagined, after months of exchanging about their lives and learning to know her: it's neat, and perfectly organised, full of knick-knacks carefully put away in different shelves. One of them particularly catches his attention, with its colourful binders, and he gets closer to it to read what's written on them.

Amy lets him do, watching him wander about the room all along without a word, still not quite realising he is here, in her home, in London. It feels so unreal.

So much like a dream, like some of the ones she had in the past, that started the same way…

But this isn't one of those.

"You kept all of our conversations gathered in those binders by dates of dispatch?!"

Jake's voice suddenly takes her out of her reverie, and she blushes at his question. Of course she kept them, and carefully ordered them.

They're a reminder of a wonderful relationship, after all.

True the first time she received a letter from him, she was skeptical about the possibility of making a friend out of that man the website she registered in matched her with. His handwriting was messy, to the point that it was hard understanding him sometimes, and he made some horrid spelling and grammar mistakes.

But she still decided to give him a chance, and, through his letters, she ended up discovering a funny, kind person and _did_ make a friend out of him in the end.

And even maybe more than just that, if she has to be honest with herself…

"I forgot, this is for you," he brings her back to reality once again with his words, and she's startled by how close to her he's come to be during her reminiscing time, now just a few inches away and handing her a bouquet of daisies she already spotted he was carrying earlier. She accepts his present with a warm, thankful smile.

"I know that's a bit lame but I didn't know what to bring and for some reason Charles made me buy you a bottle of lavender shampoo and I realised how stupid his idea was only when I arrived in front of your building so my only choice was to get rid of it and go to the little florist across the street instead," he starts rambling nervously, and it makes her laugh.

He relaxes immediately then, the sound of it being actual music to his ears. He loves her laugh, he decides as he watches her in awe.

He was already aware of his feelings for her before coming, but now that he gets to actually _see_ her and spend some _real_ time with her, even if it's just been a few minutes, his suspicions are already confirmed.

He's definitely head over heels for the lady across the ocean.

"It's perfect," Amy reassures him, back to being all serious again. He doesn't say any word in return, simply stares at her in silence with the urge of kissing her right there, right now taking over his whole body with each new passing second she looks back at him in the same quietness and deep expression in her brown orbs.

He can't really tell who makes the first move. Probably them both at the same time. The only thing he knows is one second they're facing each other, a few steps away from one another still, and the next their forehead are touching, and his hands are at her waist, skimming over her skin, timidly discovering it and inviting her to come even closer.

He can feel her quickening breath on him, so close that he just has to lean over a bit to capture her lips with his if he wants to.

Which _she_ eventually does, eyes shuts as she gently, ever so slightly presses her mouth against his in a soft, hesitant peck, brushing their noses together before pulling in and then away. She's still holding the flowers he just offered her with one hand, but the other one, the free one, is now on his chest, palm spread wide over his heart.

She can sense its beats fasten against her fingers, and it brings up a smile on her face, that she's the one making him feel this way.

Her own heart is pounding in her chest too, reacting to that first contact after months of building up. They don't open their eyes just yet, relieving in the moment they're having, printing the memory in their minds to hold dear, still in pleasant shock that they're not imagining this alone in their beds far away from each other, but actually _living_ it.

Amy lets her hand fall from his chest, in search of his own, and when she finds it, she links their fingers together, squeezing gently. Eventually, reluctantly, she draws herself a few inches away from him, so that she can meet his gaze again. "Hi," Jake greets her when her eyes land on his already open ones, a grin lighting up his face at the sight.

"Hi," she repeats his words in a whisper. "It's nice to finally meet you," she confesses.

He's the one initiating their second kiss then, with more passion this time, clinging onto her as if his life depends on it, and she answers with the same fierce, not wanting to let go.

 _Never_ wanting to let him go.


	37. This Is My Love Song to You

**_Post-5x13._ Jake and Amy and Doug Judy's wedding gift.**

* * *

When Amy comes back from work that day, Jake's already home, sitting on the couch with something in his hands, in deep contemplation.

"Hi babe," he greets her with a smile, looking up at her as he hears the door opening. She comes sit next to him and lightly kisses him hello before her attention is suddenly drawn away from him and onto the coffee table in front of them. "What's that?" she frowns, pointing at the Le Creuset pot laid there.

"Doug Judy's wedding gift," he explains. "He left it with the diamonds and a CD he made for us," he shows her what he was holding and staring at before she arrived.

She takes the bigger present to better look at it, excitation visible in her shiny orbs. "Oh my God, is that the pot we wanted?!" Amy squeals.

Quickly though, her expression changes as she calms down and regains some composure, putting a hand on the other detective's shoulder. "I mean… I'm sorry he played you and run away again."

It's only the fifth time Judy's doing it to him – and she knows how much of a bummer it can be for Jake, then.

Weirdly enough though, he doesn't seem too desperate about the criminal getting away this time, since he simply smiles back at her. "That's okay," he reassures her, before adding with a grin, "Wanna listen to the soundtrack he made for us?"

"Mmhmm," Amy agrees with a nod, excitedly standing up to go search for her laptop, and putting the CD inside as soon as she's back next to her future husband.

"Look," Jake lets out a gasp, "There's even one song with our names!" He shows the woman the file called 'Jake & Amy' and she clicks on it, curious.

Immediately a slow piano music fills the apartment, and then a few seconds later Judy's recognisable voice starts speaking in a low tone.

 _We're here to celebrate the most lovable couple…_ , he begins with a small speech, before he switches to singing.

 _Jake and Amy…_

 _Amy and Jake…_

At first, they listen to it still sitting on the couch, concentrating on the lyrics Doug invented for them, exchanging some knowing and amused glances from time to time as they go, until Jake, getting into it, suddenly stands up and offers his love a hand. "M'lady, shall we?" he playfully invites her to join her in a dance, and she obliges with pleasure.

They move around in shared rhythm, holding each other close, Amy's head lovingly resting over Jake's heart. As they slow dance together, they can't help but think about how in less than two months now, they'll be united as husband and wife and engage in their opening dance _for realz_.

They still have a lot to take care of course, but the deadline is getting closer and closer with each new passing day, and they simply can't wait for May 15th to arrive, already knowing it'll be the best day of their lives.

They stop when the song does, but keep their embrace still. The female detective looks up to meet with her fiancé's gaze, and smiles at him.

"I can't wait to marry you," she confesses.

"I can't wait to marry you too," he replies with a warming beam of his own, and leans over to meet her in a tender kiss, but they're interrupted before their lips can even brush, Judy's voice startling them apart, humming in a sexier tone this time.

 _And now, a bonus song, made especially for your wedding night. Quick suggestion: if you're thinking about making the family grow already, Doug and Judy are both perfect baby's names either it is for a boy or a girl – just sayin'._

"Gross," the couple reacts in a same way while they share a disgusted look, both wincing at what the recorded voice just said.

But, within a few seconds of listening to the song following the man's speech, their expression start changing, softening little by little as they remain into each other's arms and stare at one another with a new fire in their brown eyes.

"Is it weird if I say it's kinda turning me on indeed?" Jake acknowledges after a while, breaking the silence between them, and Amy shakes her head.

"Yep, but it doesn't matter, because me too. Let's go," she answers, suddenly taking his hand in hers and not leaving him the chance to react in any way when she leads him towards their bedroom, abandoning the living-room where Doug Judy's CD is still playing in the background.


	38. You and I Were Meant to Be

**If you come back here _anonymus_ , thanks for your review on my last OS! :)**

 **This is inspired by a post by _jess1999mess_ on Tumblr, canon divergence of episode 2x17, for _kcarrollworld_ on Tumblr too who tagged me on it.**

* * *

Expectation and reality are two very different things.

Jake understands that as he watches both his friends' parents being married by his Captain, with his very first love sat on his right side, just like he wanted it to be. Despite his little 'let's catch a bay guy' interlude with Amy before the ceremony started, everything between him and Jenny has been happening as he wished them to.

And yet, he's not as thrilled as he thought he would be, reuniting with the woman he saw for long as the love of his life.

He doesn't know what's wrong with him. He should be happy right now – given the course of the events, he's more than likely going to have his slow dance with her at last. But still, when Raymond Holt starts talking about love and marriage and what all of this means, it's not her he looks at or think of.

On the contrary, his gaze discreetly drifts away from the main couple of the day to the opposite row of seats, quickly glancing at his partner there, who doesn't see him, with her whole attention concentrated on their boss's beautiful speech.

They had a lot of fun today, working together again to chase a perp and then find back the lost wedding ring. It's been a while they haven't been that close, with all those stories of 'I like you and then me too but you don't like me anymore' between them. He's glad they're starting to regain the bond they had before all of this started.

As he watches her, his heart tightens in his chest, and a feeling he knows all too well takes over.

The same feeling that made him turn off the proposal of a relief team replacing them on their mission the night she lost their bet and they found themselves stuck on a rooftop. The same feeling that lingered during his whole undercover mission until after he came back to see her still in a relationship with her last boyfriend.

The feeling of _he still likes her_.

Suddenly, Jenny takes him out of his reverie by putting her hand on his tight, gently squeezing it, and he looks back at her. A bright smile appears on her features the moment their gazes meet, and he tries to offer her the same in return, but it barely reaches his eyes. He looks down at her palm on his knee, and stares at it for a while.

He has to admit then, there's no sparks anymore. The woman's touch does nothing on him. They've both grown into different persons, with different interests.

He should have seen that coming. It's been more than 20 years after all since she dumped him for that Eddie Fung at his bar-mitzvah.

He didn't think so, but it appears he's moved on from her. A long time ago. When he fell for one Amy Santiago…

Eventually the ceremony ends, and everyone is invited to join another room to celebrate the newly weds properly, and even though all he wants to do is to spend some time with his squad (with _her_ ), Jake stays with Jenny, because he's still the only person she knows and though he doesn't like her like _that_ anymore, she's a good person.

Who doesn't deserve being left alone.

Soon enough though, after talking with other guests, it looks like she starts getting along with some of them, and while she's deep in a conversation with a man they just met, talking about their similar jobs and other things the detective barely pays attention to, he finally finds an excuse to escape her company.

It doesn't take him long to spot Amy in the crowd, sitting alone at a table, watching Charles and his father dance together to _Kokomo_ with an amused smile on her face.

"Champagne?" he approaches her, taking a seat next to her and handing her a glass of the alcohol.

She frowns a little when she recognises him, clearly not expecting him here. She still accepts the drink.

"Where's Jenny?" she asks after taking a sip of the sparkling beverage.

"Over there," he points to where the woman is still chatting with her new friend. "Having fun?" he quickly changes topics though, not wanting to talk about her anymore.

Especially not with Amy.

Thankfully the other detective doesn't ask more questions. "Yeah, Charles finally managed to convince the DJ to put on his CDs," she nods in the direction of the man swaying his hips on the dancefloor. "He's unstoppable since," she lets out a chuckle, and Jake laughs along with her.

For a while they remain like this, watching their colleague move in silence and gently mocking him along the way, until the song stops, soon replaced by a slower music.

"What are you waiting for?" Amy presses him then, taking the floor again when she sees that he's staying next to her and doesn't seem to go and join the woman he hasn't stopped talking of sharing a slow dance with since the day before. "Isn't this the signal for your big moment with Jenny?!"

Jake swallows, lowering his gaze in embarrassment before putting it back on his friend. "Yeah, about that…" he starts, but doesn't quite know how to tell her the truth.

 _I wanna dance with_ you _._

"I'm not as much into her anymore as I thought I would be," he eventually explains, shrugging as he speaks. "I mean, we were only teenagers when I was in love with her. We've changed a lot since. Things happened…"

 _You_ happened, particularly, he thinks – but of course he doesn't tell her that.

"Oh," Amy's reaction is quite simple, but his partner swears he spots something switch in her orbs as she learns about his change of hearts. She remains silent for a few seconds, as if lost deep in her thoughts, but then she eventually speaks again, smiling at him playfully.

"Well, if you still wanna slow dance with someone, I know somebody who'd be into that…" she offers, and the same beam she's wearing soon lights up his features too.

"Okay," he nods, and stands up, offering her his hand for her to take to join the dancefloor, where a few couples are already gathering around there.

(As he gets to hold her close to his chest while they move around in shared rhythm and loving looks, Jake can't help but think that _this_ is his dream slow dance finally.)


	39. High on You

**Inspired by an episode of Parks and Recreation, the one when Ben is at the hospital on morphine.**

* * *

"Ames, you're here!" Jake exclaims when the woman enters his hospital room, looking at her with a huge grin on his face, apparently thrilled to see her there.

She smiles back at him, letting out a small sigh now that she know that he's _indeed_ in one piece and apparently not suffering too much, no matter how many times her colleagues and doctors told her that already. She needed to see it for herself to completely believe it and stop worrying too much.

She goes straight to his bed, not bothering answering anything, and sits on a chair next to him.

"Hi, beautiful," the detective immediately takes Amy's hand in his once she's all settled, never removing his gaze from her, watching her with pure bliss in his eyes.

"Hi," she finally greets him too in a soft voice. "I came as soon as I heard. How're you feeling?" she asks, gently squeezing their fingers together.

She's got a call, about half an hour earlier, from Rosa telling her not to panic, 'but Jake is in the hospital.' Of course, despite such a warning, she _did_ panic – for all she knew, the man was out on a case after all, and the image of him hurt by a bullet some criminal would have shot him with immediately took over her mind at her friend's words.

Turns out though, he simply missed a step on their way out of the building they were chasing their perp in, and fell down a few stairs.

Nothing too serious thankfully, but still bad enough for the two cops to have to make a detour at the hospital.

"Great," Jake takes her back from her reverie with his answer, his beam still on his features – never disappearing. "I have the most beautiful woman here with me, so nothing could ever be better. Seriously Ames, you're _gorgeous_."

She can't help but let out a chuckle and roll her eyes at that explanation that seems to make a lot of sense to him – though a small blush colour her cheeks as well at the compliment. The doctors told her, before she came inside, that they had to put him on morphine to help ease the pain – hence his reactions a little bit over-excited.

"You know what, we should just do it," he adds after a short moment of silence, in a very serious tone this time, his grin all gone as he watches her in a deep stare. "We should get married right now."

The woman looks startled by such a suggestion. "What?!" she exclaims.

"We should get married _right now_ ," Jake repeats his last sentence before he starts ranting. "I love you, and you love me, so why wait? We can ask Captain Holt to come and marry us, and borrow some flowers and two rings from another room or whatever."

"Babe…" Amy trails off in response, both a little worried and amused at the same time. _It's just the meds_ , she reminds herself. "We got married a month ago," she tells him, and his mouth suddenly drops open in shock.

She takes their intertwined hands and puts them in front of his face then, showing him the sparkling silver rings on both their fingers.

His eyes begin to water as he watches them in pure awe. "We… we got married?" he hardly believes it. "It must have been so beautiful," he dreamily says, lost in his thoughts, then looks up at her with actual happy, full of emotions tears in his brown eyes now. " _You_ 're so beautiful," he lets her know once more. "And you're… _my wife_ ," his grin is fully back when he lets out the last words.

The way he looks at her makes Amy laugh, while her heart warms up in her chest. "Yes. And you're my husband," she eventually answers him, letting her palm rest on his cheek and smiling tenderly at him with true love for the man in her eyes.

(Later, when Jake's feeling better and they're back home, lying in their _own_ bed all curled-up against one another, she can't help but tease him about what happened at the hospital. "I can't believe for a moment there you forgot we got married," she shakes her head in gentle mockery, reminiscence of the day taking over her brain.

"That was just an excuse to marry you all over again," the detective explains himself with a chuckle, then brings Amy closer in his embrace to press a soft kiss on her lips.)


	40. So Happy When I'm Witcha

**Inspired by the "wedding vows rap" line in 5x14.**

* * *

"Why are you up so early?!"

Jake's in the shower when Amy suddenly opens the curtains, startling him. There's suspicion in her voice and a frown on her face when she asks her question, and his first instinct is to cover himself up – which is a pretty stupid reflex, thinking about it, given how many times his _fiancée_ has seen him naked already.

(Just last night for the latest.)

(In that same shower only a few days ago.)

"Why _aren't_ you up so early?" he retorts without truly thinking, still a little puzzled to see her there. He was sure she was deep asleep, when he woke up – she didn't even flinch when he first put the light on his bedside on to be able to see clearer as he wrote some words down on his notebook,

or later when he pressed a kiss on her temple before he left the bed.

"Because it's our day off," Amy reminds him. "Which means we don't have to wake up. But I heard you talking to yourself and it did."

"I wasn't talking to myself," Jake says to his defense. Then, in a much muttered, almost inaudible voice, he adds, "I was rapping."

Unfortunately for him, the woman still catches his words. "Rapping what?" It seems to have triggered her curiosity.

"Nothing," the other quickly answers, looking away as he speaks, and Amy studies him for a while – she could swear there's something he's not telling her here.

(It's not like he's going to confess he's been rapping his _wedding vows_ to try them out after inspiration suddenly stroke him in his sleep earlier.)

"Okay, weirdo." Amy gives up on trying to understand then.

There's a moment of silence after that, during which the pair simply stand in the middle of their bathroom, until something suddenly catches Jake's attention.

"Hey! That's my shirt," he points to the only piece of clothe his fiancée is wearing, having put on the first thing to come to her hand after the man's voice startled her up and she went straight to see what he was doing, a little annoyed she wasn't wake up with him by her side, in all honesty.

She looks down at the oversized grey shirt that covers her, and lets out a chuckled when she puts her gaze back on the detective.

"You're marrying me, remember? So technically everything that's yours is now mine too," she playfully tells him.

Her look switches from teasing to something more serious and seductive, staring Jake up and down as if she's only realising now how naked her fiancé is, standing in front of her. "But, I guess you can take it back if you really want… Y'know, making you waking me up worth it."

"Oh, I will," he agreely nods, then without a warning he takes a step out of the shower and towards her to grab her by the waist and pull her closer to him, making her laugh (and slightly complain, too – only for the form, though) when he wets her on his way.


	41. The Princess and the Stable Boy

**Lmao this has to be the cheesiest thing I've ever written and I'm not even ashamed of it. Royalty AU, mutual pining.** **Jake is a stable boy and Amy a very bad equestrian who swore to never mount on a horse ever again.**

 **Inspired by my love for horses, and a Captain Swan scene.**

* * *

Princess Amy of the Ninety-Ninth Realm of the Brooklyn Forest is good – no, great, even – at a lot of things.

She loves learning, thus has developed quite the few different skills along the years of practice and classes she took from her earliest youth. There's one thing she never seemed to get the least right, though, no matter how hard she tried to get better at it: she's a really, really bad equestrian.

To the point that she somehow managed to ride her horse into a lake, once.

And, that day, when she went out of the water all wet from the fall (thank God it was a sunny afternoon mid-July and not one of those cold mornings of January) and tried not to pay too much attention to the boy who was making fun of her on the shore – her friend and family's stable boy, one Jake Peralta – she took one simply, final vow.

To never, ever ride a horse ever again, after that awfully embarrassing incident happened.

A promise she managed to keep pretty well, along the years.

It didn't prevent her from still visiting the stables, though. On the contrary, as time went by and she grew older (as time went by and she grew closer to her friends working there) (mainly one friend), she started spending most of her free time there helping taking care of the horses – but not once mounting them.

No matter how many times Jake and Charles, the other stable boy at the castle, would beg her to accompany them on a ride in the luxuriant plains of their wonderful land.

"Ames!" the youngest of the two lads cheerfully calls her name one morning when he spots her petting Peanut, his dark Mustang, on his way back from some errands he ran. He seems surprised to see her there. "What are you doing here? Didn't you have some math test today you told us about yesterday?"

She turns her attention from the animal towards her friend, and offers him a huge smile when her eyes fall upon him. "It was only arithmetic, not all mathematics," the princess corrects him, but Jake doesn't seem to catch the different there, his brows meeting in a confused frown.

"And I did," she goes on with her explanation, "but I finished earlier than my brothers, so I thought I could come here to see my friends before my music lesson starts."

Jake sighs in return. "You're always so busy with all those nerdy activities."

"They're not nerdy! It's a lot of fun," the princess protests, vexed. "Plus if I wanna be a good queen one day, I need to learn new things," she argues.

"Like riding horses?" her friend can't help but tease her, which allows him a hard glare and a punch in the side. This reaction only makes him laugh harder, but he quickly apologises and soon enough they fall back into easy conversations. Jake watches his friend as she pets and gives apples she brought with her to Peanut.

"For realz, though," he tries convincing her for the umpteenth time after a while, in a very serious tone this time. "I could lend him to you if you ever wanna give riding horses another chance. He seems to really like you."

"Never," she's categorical with her denial. "And he's just an animal, he likes me because I feed him. He'd still have no shame in making me fall and abandoning me if something scares him out there."

Jake doesn't bother replying with anything. It seems like she's never gonna change her mind, no matter what he tries. Which is a pity, he thinks – never has he felt freer in his entire life than when he's galloping in the fields. He'd like for her to understand and appreciate this feeling, too.

(He'd love to be able to do all of this with her, the two of them riding their horses in true bliss as the wind brushes their faces – but this, he'll never tell her.)

He can't let the thought linger too much into his mind though, because soon Amy has to go and join her class. As she's leaving the stables, he watches her go dreamily, petting his horse while he does so without really paying attention to it – more by reflex than anything else, lost in his own thoughts.

"She's cute, huh?"

He's startled all of a sudden by a voice next to him, and he turns to Peanut with a confused look on his face. How is it poss–?

But soon he catches a glimpse of his best friend who just appeared out of nowhere and is now standing next to him, watching him watch the princess with a knowing grin lighting up his face. "Oh my God Charles, never do that again," he angrily tells the other boy, and with a bit of shame too for thinking his horse could have talked to him.

(It's not that which puzzled him the most when he heard it, though. More the fact that he was saying out loud what he was currently thinking.)

(Not that he'd ever admit it to anyone.)

(Certainly not to her. Or to Charles – he bugs him enough about his presumed 'crush' for the princess already to add to the fire.)

"Never do what again? Daydream about your and Amy's love story?" the older boy pretends he didn't understand.

Jake winces. "Yeah, that too," he answers. "Because I already told you – there's nothing to daydream about. We're just friends."

"If you say so. I just hope you won't forget about me when you marry her and become royalty…" the other trails off, and Jake calls his name in exasperation, which eventually makes Charles surrender. Only for a while, though. Because he's at it again when later that day Amy's back in the stables, and he presses his friend to make a move.

"You should invite her to come to the tavern with us tonight," he whispers to his hear when she doesn't listen, lost in an argument with one of her little brothers.

"Because the tavern is totally where you'll find someone from royalty indeed," Jake sighs in disagreement.

"Daniel and Luis are there all the time," Charles doesn't lose it. "And it's not like the stables are somewhere you'll find someone from royalty spend all of their free time. C'mon Jake. You know better than to judge her for her rank. She's never cared about that, you know that well."

He pauses, before adding with a wink, "Otherwise she wouldn't be friends with me and pine for you…"

"Why don't you invite her if you want her to come that bad?" the younger stable boy simply argues, choosing not to linger onto his friend's last words, tired of it.

It doesn't take more for Charles to oblige right away, apparently liking his friend's idea. It's no surprise when Amy happily agrees in joining them on their evening out.

"Can I come too?" her brother asks then, looking at the three people with pleading eyes. Unfortunately, at eight years old, he's way too young for that still.

"Sorry buddy," the oldest of them all is the one to break the bad news to him, squatting to meet his height. "When you're older we'll take you with us, promise."

"In the meantime," the girl joins in to prevent him from bursting into tears, "What do you say I take you back to Daddy for this sword's lesson he promised you, huh?"

It seems to work pretty well, because soon the child is all smiles again, ready to go back to the castle hand-in-hand with his big sister. Before leaving her friends behind, she turns towards them to say goodbye, and tells them with in a happy voice, "See you later guys!"

"Jake will come pick you up at 8 tonight," Charles warns her, and the concerned man tries to argue, but his best friend stops him before he can say anything.

That's how he finds himself, a few hours later, waiting in front of her door for her to come out. He shouldn't be, but still he feels a bit nervous, feeling that this looks like he's picking her up for a date. Which is stupid to think, because there's no way in the world he would go on a date with Princess Amy. She's just his–

He's cut sharp in his thoughts when she finally comes out, and he's faced with the girl in a wonderful blue gown that suits her so well – making her look like a true mermaid. Since he remains silent, staring at her in awe, Amy begins to wonder, "Is it… too much?" she asks, nervous. "I can quickly get changed if you think…"

"No!" Jake suddenly finds his voice again. He swallows, before he adds in a calmer tone now that he's recovered, "That's great. You look great."

He offers her a reassuring smile, and she smiles back when she thanks him, her cheeks turning a little shade of red. They remain like this, staring at each other in silence until Gina, the princess's maid, appears in-between them, breaking the moment. "I hope you don't mind, I invited her to come," Amy tells his friend.

"Oh no sure. The more the better," he agrees – after all, he and Gina have been friends since childhood. Still though – he can't help but feel a bit disappointed right now.

As soon as they reach the tavern though, the maid abandon them to join the counter, where she seats on a stool there and immediately engage in a vivid conversation with the innkeeper – Rosa's her name. They seem to know each other already, and go along pretty well, to judge by the way they act around each other.

Since there's no sign of Charles in the room yet, both friends find a table where to sit, and order one beer. For a moment there the stable boy is afraid his best friend is going to bail on them just to force them to be alone together. He quickly chases the thought out of his mind though, and starts talking with Amy.

It's never been hard to talk to her, ever since their first encounter all those years ago. She's intelligent, and funny, and they always find things to (gently) argue about.

They're also both really competitive – so much so that, soon enough during the night, they find something to bet about. Which gives Jake an idea, when time comes to talk about what's at stakes. "If I win, you let me take you on a ride," he offers, and it looks like the princess is going to argue, so he adds, "You and me on the same horse."

She takes a short pause to think, but eventually agrees, because there's no way she'll loose, according to her. And if she does, at least she won't be alone on the animal.

Charles finally arrives as they shake hands, and is quickly chosen as the mediator to judge who's the best of the two.

Turns out, Jake is. Which leads to the realisation of Amy's worst nightmare the day after: Peanut all geared up, ready for her to mount him when she comes inside the stables at 11 a.m. sharp like it was decided the previous night. The two stable boys are by the horse's side, and greet her with an excitation barely contained.

"Ready?" the younger of the two lads asks, offering her his hand to help her come up after he himself got into the saddle. She nods, even though she's not, heart racing fast in her chest while memories of the incident she had comes back to her head. She breathes out in an attempt to calm herself down – everything's gonna be okay.

She's not alone, she tries to remind herself. Jake's here with her. And he won't let her down. She can count on him.

Everything's gonna be fine…

As soon as she's seated behind him, she hooks both her hands around his waist, literally glueing herself onto him and his personal space. He lets out a surprise gasp at this sudden closeness between their bodies, but quickly forces himself to concentrate on something else than Amy's grip on him, leading his horse away from the stables and into the forest.

They walk for a while – time for them to adjust to being two on Peanut, and for Amy to find her footing, but then, when they reach a vast plain and Jake feels the horse underneath him start wanting to go faster, he releases his reins and lets him do what he wants. The animal doesn't need more to fall into gallop by himself then.

The princess lets out a small cry, not expecting this change of pace so soon, but quickly she relaxes against her friend's body, and even after a while enjoys the ride as her hair flies behind her into the air. So that's the thrilling sensations the stable boys always talk to her about.

She understands now, why they love it so much, riding their horses.

Jake turns around to check on her, and is met with a grinning Amy, which instantly warms up his heart.

Unfortunately they have to slow down after a bit, entering the forest again. But this is not the last of surprises for the girl. Indeed, as they approach a lake, the lad suddenly stops his horse, and gets down, then offers his hand for Amy to do the same. She looks at him with her brow furrowed in confusion.

"You hungry?" Jake simply asks and she nods. The ride did make her hungry indeed – plus it's almost noon now. But she hasn't taken anything with her. Which she's about to argue to her friend, who shushes her before she has the chance to say any word. He leads her a few feet away after he attached Peanut to a tree near the lake.

That's when she sees it: a wonderful picnic set out for the both of them. In shock, she turns to her friend, who's nervously watching her, rubbing his hands together. He's afraid this is too much and she'll freak out. But she doesn't. She just smiles at him – a huge, warm smile that instantly calms him down.

"Jake, that's–…" she's at a loss of words.

"Charles helped me put this together," he acknowledges, offering her to sit. "He's not only a great rider, he's also an amazing cook, did you know that?"

"Yeah," Amy laughs. "Mrs. Jones always complains about how he's going to steal her job if he goes on like this. She's banned him from the kitchens."

It makes Jake laugh too. "Anyways," he's back to being nervous. "I wanted this to be a good memory for you, y'know, so that you can see how riding a horse can actually be and forget about that one incident that happened so long ago now. I think you really should give it a try again. I… I can offer you private lessons, if you'd like that better."

The princess's heart misses a beat in her chest at the words. She's never seen him like this, so thoughtful and vulnerable instead of laid out and teasing. But she likes it.

A lot.

She takes his hand in hers, then, and thanks him. There's one question still lingering on her mind though, that hasn't left her since the day before (and maybe even before that), that's why she eventually asks, "Why do you want me to ride on a horse again so much?"

He remains silent at first, before he confesses, "I don't know, I just… I suppose I'd like you to appreciate one of my main activities here."

"Well, I did today, thanks to you. It was fun," she answers, and it's all it takes for a grin to appear on his features.

After that they start eating while still talking about everything and anything. He has to admit, Jake hasn't had that much fun for a long time, sharing some time with his friend. Charles's words from earlier today come back to his head, about how this gateaway and him wanted everything to run smoothly was another proof of his feelings for the princess. And, as he watches her laugh at his joke while eating a strawberry and he can't help but find her ravishing, for the first time he doesn't mind the thought.

Maybe his friend was right all along. Maybe he does like her after all – in a sense that means more than what he imagined.

He doesn't act on this realisation right away though. Waits until they're back at the stables, and Amy thanks him once again for that wonderful day. As they stare into each other's eyes for a while, unwilling to move and unable to talk, he takes the first step, and kisses her.

She's startled at first, but then quick to reply, her hands finding their place on his neck while their lips discover each other for the first (but not the last) time.


	42. Of Peanuts and Missing Boyfriends

**Post-4x22 Canon-divergence, in which Amy gets a cat during Jake's time in jail.**

* * *

She hears it before she can see it, a small sound coming from behind one of the bushes nearby.

She doesn't pay it too much attention at first, lost in her own mind, sitting on the stairs leading to her building and trying to find the guts to finally go home, while one word constantly repeats itself in her head. _Guilty._ They found her boyfriend _guilty_. For a crime he didn't even commit.

They took him away from her without letting them say proper goodbyes, without leaving her the time to promise him she'll get him out of that hell place the sooner possible, and now here she is, all alone and unable to go inside of her apartment, too afraid she'll break down once she enters her house and realisation hits her.

 _Jake didn't come home with her._

 _Jake's in prison, and could be stuck in there up to fifteen years if they don't find a way to innocent him._

The sound happens again, clearer this time, and it takes her back to the reality of the moment, out of her depressing thoughts for a second. When she looks up to see where – and what – it comes from, she's met with a tiny ball of fur, its green, piercing eyes staring intently at her in fear and curiousness.

It doesn't move, simply watches her from afar. She finds herself stretching out her arm then, calling to invite it to come closer so that she can pet it.

Usually, Amy isn't a pet person. It's not that she doesn't like them – she _does_ find most of them cute, and doesn't mind their company when she goes to someone's who has a cat –, but growing up with seven siblings didn't leave room for other animals in the house, despite how many times some of her brothers would ask their parents for it.

(The youngest of the Santiagos even tried and negotiate to trade her for a dog once, when Camila explained to him that they couldn't have one because of her allergies.)

(She still has vivid memories of the very detailed report he made of how much money they'd save keeping a dog instead of her – it'd been a real trauma.)

(Aren't love-hate relationships at the core of every family, though?)

In the end, the only pets they managed to get were goldfishes – eight on them, so that no-one would get jealous –, and it's not like they're the most caring animals.

Plus, being deathly allergic to dogs never helped her feel for them either – rather avoid them like the plague. If we don't take into account that one time she almost brought back two puppies to her place just to please her Captain, that is.

She doesn't quite now why she's so happy then, when the cat eventually seems to decide she's no threat and slowly approaches her, letting her gently touch its head when it's close enough without running away. Probably it's because she's all alone, and she needs the company right now. Probably it's because it's a good distraction, too.

But mostly, probably it's because she knows Jake would have loved this cat the instant he'd see it, and, just like a child, would have asked to take it home with pleading eyes.

She lets out a small chuckle at the thought, but in her chest her heart tightens a bit more in pain.

She knows how fond of animals he is, remembers him telling her stories of his childhood, when he'd play with her neighbour's cats because he was bored and his mother too busy to take care of him, or about that turtle his parents got him when he was young – Graham Crackers was his name, and he was his best friend in the whole world, until one day he simply disappeared and abandoned him without a warning, 'to move out with his wife,' according to Karen's words.

(Until his father actually killed him by stepping on it one morning while getting out of bed.)

(But that he found out only much later.)

She felt sorry for him when he recalled those moments with her, squeezing his shoulder tenderly in an act of reassurance, but right now, while she's herself all alone and desperate petting that cat that appeared out of nowhere, she can actually understand how he must have felt.

She lets out a long sigh. "You too are away from your family, buddy?" Amy hears herself starting talking to the little furry form, still distractedly rubbing its back.

Her fingers in its fur makes it purr in happiness, and she somehow finds the sound of it rather soothing, so she goes on confessing. "I'm sure Jake would have loved you," she says out loud what she had in mind earlier. Her voice cracks when she mentions her boyfriend's name but she forces the tears prickling in her eyes away.

She can't crack. She has to stay strong. Otherwise, if she breaks down, she won't be at her best to try and take him and Rosa out of prison.

She doesn't quite know how long she remains like this, talking to that cat about the man she loves and everything that happened that day and she kept locked inside of her until then, motivated by its purring and little rubs against her legs. Soon she finds that it really helps release some of the stress and pain she's been feeling in her core.

That's how she eventually finds the strength, when the sun starts falling down and night comes in, to stand up and go home.

The cat tries to follow her, but she gently chases it away – she's in no mood to having to take care of someone else when it's already hard enough to find the motivation to take care of _herself_ in such a depressing situation, plus it surely belongs to someone else in the first place. She's all alone again then when she enters her apartment.

For a moment she's stuck still in the entryway, unable to make a move. There's reminders of Jake everywhere her eyes lay, from photos to objects he brought back from his own apartment to even one of his shirts lying on the floor. She feels like suffocating seeing all of this, and can sense the panic attack building up in her stomach.

Everything looks so wrong without him in there. It's not _home_ anymore, but a strange place she hardly recognise.

She forces herself out of her trance, and goes straight to her bedroom after picking up the shirt on her way. She doesn't even take the time to change in more comfortable clothes when she lets herself fall on _his_ side of the bed and buries her head in his pillow, his scent immediately taking over her nostrils and surrounding her as she closes her eyes.

The tears fall down her cheeks and this time she's unable to stop them.

It's a long night she spends after that. She's exhausted, but it seems like she can't bring herself to sleep, alone in that too big of a bed for only one. She gives up on having any rest after a moment lost staring at her ceiling in the dark, and gets up to find something to eat, realising just now she didn't have anything for dinner.

She looks out of her window at the life happening outside while waiting for her meal to cook, and she catches sight of 'her' cat still wandering about in the street.

She almost goes out to pick it up, suddenly feeling scared it'll get hit by a car, but finally decides against it and simply goes back to her late-night snack.

She sees it again often after that day, on her way for work or back from it, and it soon becomes an habit of Amy's to stop and take a moment to pet the cat and talk to it, updating it on the case or simply telling it about what it feels like being without Jake – it sucks, mostly, and it's hard, _so hard_ not having him by her side.

Sometime she even gives it food, when she finds the courage to actually cook something instead of just ordering some takeout on her way and makes too much of it for herself, not used to a life as just one anymore.

She knows she might look crazy to anyone who passes by and sees her talk to a cat that clearly can't understand what she's saying and couldn't care less about it anyway, but she doesn't mind what those people might think of her, because doing it is actually the one thing that keeps her sane.

The more times she pets it, the harder it tries to follow Amy home when she decides she had enough of her 'purr therapy' (that's a real thing, she read about it somewhere not long after she started this new routine and wanted to get some information about cats), but she never gives in and allows it to do it.

Until she does.

It's late at night when Charles gives her a ride to her apartment after they traveled to South Carolina to visit Jake in prison for the first time. As if matching her sad mood, rain is pouring down outside, and as soon as she gets out of her colleague's car after a last thank you and goodbye, she rushes towards her building not to get too wet.

But, before she has the time to find her keys and go inside, she hears it. A small meowing she's come to recognise now – it sounds more desperate than usual, though.

She turns around then, and finds herself face-to-face with 'her' cat, as if it's been waiting for her the whole time, completely soaked and freezing in the cold air of the night. Its eyes are shining in the dark, and it watches her with such a look she doesn't think twice before letting it follow her this time, taking pity on it.

She'd never forgive herself if it'd get sick because she left it in the streets under such a bad weather.

She forces it to remain in the hallway for a while though, when she enters her apartment, in search of a towel to dry it. There's no way she's going to let it dirty her floor and whole house with its filthy little paws while wandering around.

"Don't get used to this, buddy," she warns it when she feeds it with some chicken leftover she found in her fridge and it takes it in its mouth, happily purring. "It's only for tonight. You're coming back where you come from tomorrow morning."

All it does in return is to purr more, and let out a _meow_ hearing the sound of her voice.

She sighs, leaving it there while she goes change into something more comfortable, then sits on her couch. For a moment she stares at the black screen in front of her, unable to find the strength to put on the TV, memories of the previous day coming back to her mind now that she has nothing to keep her busy anymore.

She truly believed that seeing Jake again would brighten her mood a bit. And it did, at first. As soon as she led eyes on him for the first time since they had to go separate ways, a weight in her heart disappeared, and when he didn't waste one second to take her in his arms to greet her, it felt like she was finally breathing again.

But then they had to let go, the warden telling them that it was enough touching time, and that's when reality hit her hard again.

He wasn't free of doing whatever he wanted, not even something as simple and inoffensive as hugging his girlfriend.

He was _in jail_.

During their whole hour of visiting time, while catching up on everyone and everything – mostly his case, though –, he tried to look contented and not too destroyed by his current situation, and he did such a good job at it that someone who didn't know him as much as Amy did could have been fooled by his behaviour. But she didn't.

She could read in his eyes and every movements, the way his hands were shaking and how he tried to make jokes and force a laugh that he was _nothing_ but okay.

And of course, seeing him like that killed her too – more than simply guessing how he was doing, like she had been doing before. Because it was real, this time – not just some assumptions she could always chase away by lying to herself with some 'maybe you're wrong, maybe he's adjusting just well and there's nothing to worry about.'

Who did she try to fool, though? He's a cop in prison. Of course there's something to worry about, even though they put him in protective custody.

Amy's suddenly taken out of her depressing thoughts by something climbing on her lap. She looks down, and watches as the cat, that must have gotten on her couch at some point without her noticing, too lost on the reminiscence of her weekend for that, makes itself at ease on her knees, purring when it finally finds the perfect napping spot.

Her first instinct is to want to push it away, worrying about her couch and not wanting the pet to leave hair on it, but it seems like she can't bring herself to do it, watching it as it looks so happy to be warm and cuddling against her, with its eyes closed. All of a sudden, she's frozen in place, afraid she'll disturb its sleep if she moves.

Plus she could use some purr therapy right now, after the long weekend she had. It already works, she can sense her body soothe at the sound.

For a long while she remains like this, simply listening to its purring while watching the cat sleep, the both of them surrounded in complete silence, until she has to get up and go to bed. And, if she gave in and let him use the couch, there's _no way_ it's going to follow her in her room, so she makes sure to close her door before tucking herself under the warm covers.

(Not as warm as Jake's body against hers, though.)

Just like every night, she tosses and turns in her bed in hopes that she'll _finally_ manage to get some _real_ , refreshing sleep. But, every time she closes her eyes, she can't help but picture Jake, all alone and miserable, in his own tiny bed in his cell, and it prevents her from relaxing enough to properly doze off.

She's wide awake then when she suddenly hears the creaking of her door opening, and the sound of little paws resonating on the wooden floor. She doesn't have the time to wonder and check out what's going on, because only a few seconds later, the cat she took in is jumping on her bed and immediately coming towards her.

It curls up against her side without question, and once again she forgets about her convictions, keeping it close to her with a sigh and a shake of her head.

Clearly, that little monster knows how to get whatever it wants.

But, when for the first time in days she's startled awake by her alarm the next morning, she has to admit she's glad it didn't obey and joined her in bed, because for the first time it seems like she managed to get some _true_ rest. It's still sleeping when she leaves the room, but it soon comes into the kitchen when it smells food.

"You _have_ to belong to someone," Amy tells the cat as she watches it watch her eat. It's way too close to humans to be just some stray animal.

She's thought about it a lot, for the past days, every time she would see it in her streets. Maybe it got lost and its owners are looking for it right now, worried sick that something happened to it, seeing that it's not coming back home.

That's how she finds herself taking pictures of the cat and printing posters of it, putting them all around her neighbourhood on her way to work after she took the pet back where she found it. She can't keep it if it already belongs to someone else.

(She can't keep it _at all_ , she quickly corrects herself.)

After a week and still no call of anyone claiming for their cat, she has to come to the conclusion that it _is_ a stray cat indeed. Or that its owners just don't care about it anymore, and won't take it back if they did lose it. Maybe they didn't even _lose_ it. Maybe they simply abandoned it.

Amy won't say it, but she's relieved no-one came and took the cat away from her – every time her phone would buzz during the past week, she'd be afraid this was it – someone telling them the cat was theirs. As weirdly as it can sound, it grew on her, after all the 'conversations' she had with it.

She would have been sad if we'd taken _that_ away from her too, after taking her boyfriend first.

What was supposed to be a 'one-night rescue' quickly turns into letting the cat in more and more at night then, until she even keeps it there during the day when she's at work and it doesn't seem like wanting to move from her couch, quietly curled up in there.

"I think it's time to find you a name," she tells it one night while he's comfortably lying on her lap and she's petting him. She feels a bit better, having it around. She has less time to let her mind being drown into depressing thoughts about Jake and how he's doing, all those miles away. And its presence really makes her feel less lonely.

She still misses him like crazy, of course. This doesn't change. Will _never_ change – not until he's back home and safe by her side.

So much so that the first name that comes into her mind for her cat is inspired by _him_ when she looks around and her gaze stops at a bag of nuts laid in the kitchen.

Flashes of the night she lost their very first bet and he took her out on the 'worst date ever' take over, and a small, nostalgic smile appears on her features at the thought.

 _Nuts?_

 _Only if you throw them._

"I know. What do you think of Peanut? You like it?"

Of course the animal doesn't respond in any way, simply goes on purring at her touch. "Peanut it is, then," she decides, never stopping combing her fingers through its fur.

After that day, she fully acknowledges that Peanut is all her own and she officially adopted him.

Finally, eventually, the nightmare ends and Jake walks free out of prison after two months spent in there. Of the few times she saw him, and all the times she got him on the phone once he managed to get one in jail, she somehow forgot to mention her adopting a cat.

That's why, when they come home after a long travel from South Carolina, he's startled when he's greeted by the small animal as soon as he opens the door.

"What's that?!" he turns to Amy and asks her with a puzzled look on his face, pointing at the cat.

"That's… Peanut," she sheepishly tells him, realising just now her mistake of not talking to him about it before. "I found him outside our building the day I came home after the trial and I didn't feel like going home just yet, and I… somehow go attached to him and ended up adopting him after no-one claimed him as their own."

Jake watches her without saying a word, only studying her intently, and something inside of him breaks.

She must have felt so alone, in that apartment of theirs…

He takes a step closer, still silent, leaving his small suitcase behind, and puts his now free hands on her girlfriend's waist, pulling her towards him in a long, loving kiss.

"I missed you so much," he whispers only afterwards, their heads still leaning onto one another with their eyes closed.

"I missed you so much too," Amy answers.

They remain like this for a while, until they're interrupted in their moment by a little meowing – it seems like Peanut wants some attention too. The two lovers let out a laugh when they look down at the cat rubbing against their legs, and Jake draws himself from the woman to meet his height.

"Hi, buddy," he calls as he starts petting him, and immediately the cat comes curling against his side, which makes the detective smile.

Amy watches the scene with a broad smile of her own and some tears prickling in her eyes – she still can't quite believe the nightmare is over, and Jake is back home.

"Are we keeping him, then?" he takes her out of her stare with his question, looking back up at her with shining eyes.

 _There's_ the pleading look she imagined him wearing when she first met the cat, she thinks, and she can't help but chuckle. "I mean, if you don't mind…" she trails off, though she's positive he really doesn't – quite the opposite, even.

"You kidding?! I always wanted to have a cat!" he confirms her thoughts.

He seems really excited by the idea, as he quickly stands up and kisses her again.

"He'll be like… our first child," he jokingly says as he watches Peanut, his arm around Amy's waist and her head lovingly resting on the crook of his neck. Her heart simply warms up at his word. It's not the first time they're talking about their future and a potential family, but the possibility of fifteen years in jail obviously put those things on hold during his time away.

Not anymore, thankfully. He's here, now, and ready to start a new adventure _together_.

(Charles seems to agree with his best friend, when they let their colleagues know about the news of having adopting a cat later at the precinct, shooting in dire happiness that having a pet is the first step before them becoming actual parents.)

As days pass and routine takes its place again in their home, it soon becomes obvious Peanut _loves_ Jake. It's always on _his_ lap he jumps when he and Amy are watching TV on the sofa, and at _his_ feet he sleeps, now that there's no more space available next to the woman on the bed ever since the detective came back and she's literally glued to him, never letting go of him.

She knows it's silly, but she can't help but feel a bit jealous and betrayed by _her_ cat, that he would prefer her boyfriend's company to the actual person who rescued him.

When she lets him know of the fact, Jake simply teases her about it. "Sorry babe, but I tend to have that effect on everyone," he tells her, before adding with a wink, "You of all people should know that by now."

And indeed she can't deny she does. She loves him _so much_ too.


	43. You Are My Treasure

**Spoilers 5x19, based off the press release and the stills we got for that episode, as well a post by _ohpineapples_ on Tumblr.**

* * *

She's the first thing he lays his eyes on when he enters the bar, like a beacon of light in the middle of the pretty dark room, in contrast with the sun still shining outside.

When the last clue the scavenger hunt Charles organised for his bachelor party lead him and the rest of his male friends to Shaw's, Jake first thought he had been wrong somewhere, and missed something. After all, this was where Amy was having her own bachelorette party with the ladies of the Nine-Nine and her best friend Kylie.

So why would they end up there too when the room was already occupied – by his _fiancée_ , of all people?

Wasn't the whole point of bachelor/ette parties to have the future groom and bride have one last celebration without their other half?

(Not that Jake would mind sharing his with her, though. It's always more fun, when Amy's by his side and enjoying a party with him and the rest of their friends.)

But then he turned to the older detective, and he saw the big, bright smile on his face, barely able to contain his excitation as he was waiting for his reaction to come, and he finally understood.

This was the man's plan all along – to reunite the two lovers at the end of the game for a night of celebrating all together.

Jake smiled back at his best man – best _friend_ –, moved by the lovely thought. No doubt, he had always known how to make him happy.

He didn't waste any more second and pushed the door that separated him from the love of his life, soon followed by the others, and was met with the sight of Amy in the middle of a cheering, very drunk crowd. All of this happened a few seconds ago, and he hasn't moved since, stuck in his admiration of the woman in front of him.

She, on the other hand, hasn't seen nor heard him arrive yet. She's too busy and concentrated in whatever game she's playing right now to notice anything else happening around her.

(She's probably winning, judging by the way she raises her hands and makes loud noises of victory.)

His fiancé lets out an amused chuckle watching her, before someone comes and takes him out of his contemplation, patting him on the shoulder. He quickly, reluctantly turns his gaze away from her to see who it is who joined him, and sees Charles standing by his side with a grin.

"Congrats bach boy, you found your treasure!" he happily tells him, pointing to the woman he was staring at until then. Jake silently puts his whole attention back on her, not bothering saying anything back, his friend's words repeating themselves in his mind. _You found your treasure._

And he did indeed, about three years ago, when they finally got together after all this time pining for her. There's no doubt in his mind – she _is_ his treasure.

The most precious thing in his entire life.

"Thanks bud," he eventually tells the other man with a grateful smile, who simply nods in return, glad Jake liked his idea after all, despite the rough start his scavenger hunt got.

It takes Amy some more time to notice that Jake is here, but when she does, she calls his name before abandoning everyone and clumsily reaching to him with a grin lighting her features, soon matched by one of his own. She greets him with a kiss, and his hands naturally find their place at her waist, holding her close.

(And steady – it seems like she's had so much to drink, she can't stand straight anymore.)

"What are you doing here?" she asks, curious, when they part. "You guys still struggling with your scavenger hunt? I'd love to help, but you should know I've had a few drinks already so I might not be able to think properly anymore…" she warns him, letting out a small sheepish giggle as she confesses.

"Only a few?" Jake teases her, feeling how hard she holds onto him to keep her balance right now. She pouts, feigning being offended, and it only makes him laugh more.

 _She's adorable,_ he can't help but think.

He soon falls serious again, though. "Don't worry, we don't need your help. We figured everything out already."

Despite what she just told him, Amy seems a bit disappointed by her fiancé's answer. She loves those kind of games, after all – even when her mind is so blurry.

"And what was the price?" she still wants to know.

Jake pauses a second to look at her, his eyes full of love for the woman between his arms, and his grin only grows wider when he lets out, "You."

Amy's face instantly softens, and she's unable to make another sound, melting inside.

For a short moment they remain quiet, simply taking in the other, until the male detective sees it – a bandage on top of his fiancée's head. He reaches to it with his hand, gently brushing it with his thumb, and a worried frown appears on his features as he does so.

"What happened to you?"

"Nothing," the woman quickly reassures him, taking his hand off her and squeezing it in her own. "I slipped and fell down the bar while spraying everyone's face with alcohol. No big deal." She shrugs nonchalantly, and this explanation immediately calms Jake down, even laughing at the image forming in his head.

"Seems like you're having a great time," he eventually tells her, and she acknowledges his word with a nod.

"I am. But the real party starts now that you're here. Let's grab you a drink."

She leads him towards the bar without waiting for an answer. They stay there for a while, sharing a beer and stories about their day and what their friends organised for them in animated conversations. But then Jake seems to suddenly remember something, and he falls silent, scanning the crowd around them as if searching for someone.

Then he turns back to Amy, who's watching him in confusion. "So, which one is it?" he asks with an amused smile, and it takes her some time to understand what he means.

 _Oh right_ , it finally hits her. She _did_ tell him about one of the members of the band they hired for their wedding also being a guy she formerly had sex with, while they exchanged a few texts during the day – mostly drunk declarations of love, or Jake asking her for help when his clues started getting too tricky.

And _that_ , too.

Discreetly, she points to a man standing not so far away from them. "This one."

"Ooooh, nice, Santiago!" Jake can't help but tease her when his eyes find the very handsome man she shows him, humming in appreciation.

Her response his quick to come, punching him in the sides, apparently not amused. "This is not funny!" she complains, but her reaction only makes her fiancé laugh more.

She rolls her eyes, exasperated and ready to snap back, when they're suddenly interrupted by Charles and Rosa calling them to join in a game they just finished preparing for them.

They oblige then, and soon men and women find themselves in a fight for victory led by both members of the couple of the night. Needless to say things escalade rather quickly, with those two very competitive people at the head of their respective team. But, even though the scores are tight all game long, the ladies are eventually declared winners.

Amy can't help but make a whole fuss about it, teasing Jake about his loss repeatedly, but for once he doesn't care, because she's too damn adorable right now to feel disappointed.

She looks so happy – that's really all that matters to him. He would lose every game he'd ever play if it meant seeing her smile never fade away.

Someone else doesn't agree with him though, and it _does_ bother him that the women won. Indeed, Captain Holt immediately asks for a return match, claiming his team was disadvantaged by having Hitchcock and Scully being part of it, and asking for a share fair of people, when _they_ were the ones outnumbering their adversaries in the first place.

No-one complains then when the ladies accept his request and their boss excludes the two detectives from the game – not even the concerned parties, who oblige without question, too happy to be able to go back and sit at their table to watch the others play from afar, not understanding the rules anyway.

It's only much later in the night, when the bar has started to empty and people to calm down, tiredness taking over as alcohol is slowly leaving their bodies, that Jake and Amy find themselves alone together again. Seeing him at the bar ordering one last beer, the newly-graded sergeant stands from her booth where Rosa and Gina are half-asleep next to her, and walks towards Jake.

He smiles as he sees her approaching and the minute she's by his side, he gently grabs her by the waist to pull her close to his chest.

"You alright?" he softly asks her, and she simply nods and hums in return, smiling back at him before she puts a hand around his neck and leans over in a tender kiss.

When they eventually part, they stay still, keeping their eyes closed and tight embrace, foreheads resting against one another.

"I can't believe we're getting married in less than a month already," Jake whispers, breaking the silence that fell around them.

"Twenty-two days," Amy specifies in a same soft voice – of course she's counting down the days –, and her heart misses a beat at the thought. "We're getting married in twenty-two days."

They still have a lot to do before the D-Day for it to be completely perfect, and it will probably freak her out later when she realises how little time they have left to organise it all, but for now she doesn't care – she simply relishes that tender moment she's sharing with her future husband.


	44. New Beginnings

**Pre-5x16, Amy clears her desk on her last day as Detective.**

* * *

It was about eight years ago when Amy sat on that chair for the very first time.

She still remembers that day perfectly, how nervous and excited she was to start this new adventure.

She had just stumbled upon Jake and his 'weird friend,' as she thought of Charles at the time, when her new Captain went out of his office and called her to join him in. She quickly left the pair and walked towards her boss then, trying to forget about the embarrassing thing she just heard ( _'I_ _'m hearing wedding bells!'_ ) and focus on her job instead of paying attention to the Detectives on her back who had started arguing.

( _"_ _What the hell, Charles?! What was that?!"_

" _True love, Jakey – you've just been hit by true love."_ )

She remained in her Captain's office for a while, listening to his instructions, until he took her on a tour of the precinct, explaining everything to her as she assiduously took a lot of notes on her book, and then showed her to her desk.

"Here, you will sit across Peralta," he pointed to the man who was now sitting there at his own desk. "This is Amy Santiago, our new Detective," he introduced her to him.

"Yeah, we met already," Jake replied with a nod, never once making eye-contact with her, as if avoiding her.

There was a pause after that, until their boss spoke again. "Great," he simply let out, then left them alone to go back to his office.

Silence took over again as Amy sat on her chair and started arranging some of the things on the desk, making it _her own_ by adding some of her own stuff – and proudly aligning her 'Det. Amy Santiago' sign with her new colleague's. She could feel his gaze on her, watching her intently moving around from behind his computer, so she looked up.

He opened his mouth when their eyes met, as if to talk, but remained speechless in the end.

"Everything's alright?" she asked with a frown.

"Yeah, it's just… I'm sorry about Charles and what he said. That was awkward."

"It was, yeah…" she nodded in agreement. She wanted to add something, _anything_ , so that they could forget about their first meeting and start over on a better note but nothing came. Thankfully, as if motivated by her starting the conversation, Jake quickly spoke again, and didn't shut up afterwards, asking questions, wanting to know more about his new partner.

(She would learn with time that he was that type of person – _always_ having something to say.)

(She would learn with time that Charles had been right in the end, no matter the trauma he caused her, and wedding bells there would be indeed for them.)

It was eight years ago when Amy sat on that chair for the very first time, and now she's about to leave it for good.

She's about to start a whole new adventure, one step closer to her goals. And though this is of course exciting and all of her dreams coming true, she can't help but feel a bit nostalgic while packing her stuff, thinking about everything that happened here, and the great friends – _family_ , even – she made along the way, while being part of this squad.

Thinking about the man across her desk, who's now going to be her _husband_ in just about a month. It must be stupid, since they're living together and she's literally going to be only _one_ floor below him, but she'll miss being able to work _that close_ to him everyday, sharing glances and other missing moments on the job with him.

"Ready?" Jake suddenly appears from behind her back, taking her out of her reverie just when she was thinking about him. She turns in his direction, and offers him a tender smile as he approaches.

"Almost." She puts her attention back down to what she's holding in her hands – her Detective sign –, brushing against the 'Det.' part of it with her thumb.

She's no longer one. She's a _Sergeant_ now. It still feels a little surreal, when she thinks of it.

When he finally reaches her side, her fiancé puts his own hand on her shoulder, curiously watching what she's doing. He smiles when he sees the sign. "I'm so proud of you," he softly tells her, and that makes her look up at him, her shining eyes meeting his as warmth takes over her heart at his words. He's always been so supportive, and she feels so lucky to have him in her life.

"Though I have to admit, I'll miss working only a few inches away from you," he lets out a chuckle after a beat.

"Don't go fall in love with the new person they assign to this desk," Amy jokes back, turning so that she's facing him now, and that makes him laugh.

"Doubt that," he answers her, letting his hand fall from her shoulder to her own and intertwining their fingers together as he speaks, half-amused, half-serious. "I'll be too busy telling them how great the Sergeant from the floor below is doing and bragging about her being my wife."

Once again, his choice of words overwhelms her with pure bliss.

 _My wife._ They've never been closer to become husband and wife. She can't wait for it to be official.

She's in such complete awe, she doesn't know what to say back at first, until she eventually lets it out –

"I love you."

She leans over then, and presses a gentle peck on his lips.

"Me too."

A smile is lighting up his features when they part. "Now let's go home? You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow."

Amy silently nods, and she lets him lead her out of the room, and the whole precinct, thinking about how this is the last time she's walking in this building as a Detective. Because from the next day on, she's going to go inside as a _Sergeant_.

(The next morning, when she appears in their bedroom all dressed in her new uniform while he is still in bed, Jake can't help but stop and stare at her for a while.

"How do I look?" she half-nervously, half-excitedly asks him, a huge grin brightening up her face, proudly showing off her new clothes.

There's not a doubt in his voice when he tells her, "You look dope, babe.")


	45. Darling, You Look Perfect

**SPOILERS 5x18. Canon-divergence, in which Jake and Charles come back to the precinct while Amy is still there in her wedding dress.**

* * *

 _"And I want a mermaid cut with tulip sleeves."_

 _"Say it again. Say it loud."_

 _"A mermaid cut with tulip freakin' slee–"_

Amy is cut short in her demands for her perfect wedding dress the second she turns away from Rosa to face the rest of the people in the bullpen, and watches helplessly as the elevator's doors open, revealing to her sight Charles, then another guy, and then _Jake_ as they walk out of it in the middle of her shooting the last word.

The older detective is the first one of the two to notice her, with her fiancé being too caught up in whatever he's doing on his phone to look up yet. But then Charles lets out a choked gasp as soon as his eyes lay on her, and it's all it takes for the younger man's attention to finally been drawn to what's happening in the room, curious.

He spots her right away. Which isn't a surprise really, given how the whiteness of her dress contrasts with everyone else's outfits around her (everyone except for Rosa, maybe).

His reaction is quick to come then – his hand falls back to his side on its own choice, and he freezes, mouth half-open and curling up in a puzzled yet dreaming smile, staring intently in her direction, unable to take his gaze off her even for a split instant. The look in his eyes is indescribable, but there's so much love and awe in it, Amy can feel it piercing through her whole soul and warming it all up along the way.

(Her cheeks turn a little shade of red too.)

The room fills with silence, or maybe that's just them being too caught up in each other to notice anything else, but a moment passes and they simply remain like this.

There's something about seeing her in a wedding dress that suddenly makes it all the more real to Jake, that they'll soon be united, and that's silly because he _knows_ it's coming up, they've been talking about it for months and even more so now that the ceremony is nearing and they still have so much to take care of, but still it seems like there's a whole world between _mentioning_ it and actually _seeing_ it taking some kind of form for the first time. And clearly, he wasn't prepared for what looking at his fiancée in that pure, white gown would to do his heart.

He's dreamed of that moment so many times – and now it's really happening. He's literally on the verge of breaking into tears – _blissful_ tears, of course – when he thinks about how this is his life right now, and how in about a month she's going to marry him.

That she's going to be standing there in her wonderful gown and slowly come to him.

To think that just a year before he was being sent to jail, thrown to an uncertain future that could have cost him up to 15 years away from the love of his life.

Thankfully it didn't come to this. Thankfully now his future is clearer than it has ever been – he's gonna spend it _by her side_. And nothing could make him happier than that.

As all these thoughts wander in his mind, he can't manage to turn his eyes away from Amy, no matter how hard Charles tries to make him look away, even using their perp as a shield between the two lovers to block his sight because _what the hell Amy, do you want your wedding to be doomed?! He can't see you like that!_

But the truth is, right now, Jake couldn't care less about those dumb superstitions. Not when his fiancée in standing right in front of him and looking so damn gorgeous.

"Calm down, Charles!" she finally speaks up, tired of their friend's whining. "These are just superstitions, and it's not the dress I'm going to wear to my wedding anyway."

"It's not?" Jake raises a confused eyebrow at her words, suddenly finding his voice again, surprised. She gives him her whole attention again then, and her features instantly soften the instant their gaze meet. She offers him a small, loving smile as she finally makes a step forward and approaches him.

She puts both her hands on his arms when she reaches his side, gently stroking them while she explains herself. "It's not really my type. I was thinking about… something different." She doesn't want to go too deep into the details with him – wants it to be a surprise.

"Whatever pleases you." Her fiancé simply beams at her as an answer before stepping closer, pressing a soft kiss on her lips. "But for the record, you look stunning in that dress."

(He'll learn a month later that this first peek at Amy in a wedding dress did nothing to his heart in comparison with seeing her in her new one – her _true_ , _chosen_ one – walking down the aisle with her bouquet of flowers wrapped in New York Time's paper from April 28th, 2017 to join him in front of the precinct.

There are tears prickling in his eyes when he breathlessly tells her as she's finally reached his side and before anyone else starts speaking, only for her to hear while he squeezes their fingers together, never once looking away from her even just for a second, "You look like a mermaid in that dress.")

(He'll learn later as he takes all his damn, sweet time to take it off her on their first night as a married couple, not wanting to crumple it on his way, that it was made on purpose – that such a thing as 'mermaid cut' does exist and that it was exactly what Amy was looking for.)


	46. We Keep This Love in a Photograph

**SPOILERS about the finale. Set in a near future, not long after the wedding. Jake has a little surprise for Amy.**

* * *

When Amy comes back from getting herself a cup of coffee, she catches her most dedicated officer in a deep conversation with her husband in front of her desk. She frowns, not expecting to see Jake here, but then he says something that makes Gary laugh, and she softens, a smile spreading across her face as she comes closer to the pair.

She remembers their encounter, how both so nervous and excited her subordinate was to meet her husband – still fiancé at the time – and the amused look the other man gave her when he shook his hand, talking too quickly and loud as he told him that _you must be Jake, I'm so honoured to finally be meeting you!_

There already wasn't a doubt about that, but as she watched them interact for the first time, she couldn't help but think that he _was_ an Amy indeed, from his cleverness to his weird obsession over his boss – and thus everything (and every _one_ ) related to her.

"Hi Jake," the Sergeant happily greets her husband when she finally reaches their sides, to which he answers with a smile of his own, his whole attention immediately switching from his conversation partner to her. "Jennings," she politely nods at her officer then, and he brightly smiles back at her too.

A beat passes, and the young man doesn't seem to understand this was his cue to move, standing in the way of the couple and looking at them as if waiting for them to go on with whatever they have to say to each other without minding him, so she gives him another look, more pressing this time.

"Oh, I'm… going to go now, I have some paperwork to do," he suddenly gets it, sheepishly pointing towards his own desk. "It was great seeing you again, Jake. Bye!"

And just like that, he rushes away. The other two curiously watch him as he leaves with kind mockery in their eyes.

"I love that guy," Jake eventually turns to his wife, a grin lighting up his features as he speaks.

"Yeah, and he really loves you too," she acknowledges with a small chuckle. "I don't know what you guys talk about, but you always seem to make him laugh."

"What can I say? I have that effect on Amies," Jake fake-modestly shrugs. In response, his wife simply rolls her eyes, not bothering answering with anything as she pretends being annoyed by his silliness. Which doesn't work well, since a laugh escapes her throat despite all her good intentions to remain stoical.

Because he's right, after all, and this is a good example of it – he _does_ make her laugh. A lot.

"Anyways," she falls serious again, her curiosity taking over. "What are you doing down here? It's not lunchtime yet."

"Do I need a reason to come see my wife?"

Amy's lips instantly curl up into a soft smile, her heart warming up in her chest at his choice of words. They've been married for a few weeks now, but she still feels overwhelmed every time he refers to her as such – his _wife_. She's not quite sure she'll ever stop marvel at it someday, even years from now.

She tries not to let her mind linger on it too much, having other things to deal with right now – like figuring out what's going on with her _husband_.

"Jake…" she trails off then. "I can see you're hiding something." As she speaks, she points at his left hand he's kept behind his back ever since she joined him at her desk, and caught her attention the moment she saw him standing like that. "What is it?"

"Okay, fine," he gives up. "Remember how we were looking through our wedding pictures the other night to pick the ones we'd like to have printed?" All of a sudden he sounds really excited, his eyes sparkling as he intently stares at her with a mysterious expression on his face, waiting for her to react.

She nods her invitation for him to go on with his statement, not understanding where he's going with it yet.

Because of course she remembers. They spent the whole night back from their honeymoon curled up on the couch with a bottle of wine going through all the pictures and videos their friends took of them on their big day, reminiscing it with emotion and mocking Charles for not being able to take _one_ decent one, all of them blurry from his shaking and crying while he was shooting or recording them.

He was even sobbing so much during the actual ceremony that you can't hear the pair recite vows through his loud tears.

(Thank God Terry and Gina were capturing it too, for Amy would have been truly disappointed not to be able to relive that moment when Jake started to rap how strongly he felt about her, improvising a line in his very prepared speech about how they were currently standing at the exact same spot where he told her he wished for something _romantic_ to happen between them for the very first time and how they were getting married now, managing to make her laugh _and_ cry both at the same time.)

(It really was one of the highlight of the day – even though the whole day, bomb threat and what followed next forgotten, was a highlight by itself.)

"Well, I think I found my favourite," he takes her from her reverie and back to the reality of the moment, finally moving his hand from behind his back and handing her what he was holding in it. She grabs it between her own fingers, and when her eyes lay on the picture, she lets out a wholehearted laugh.

"Seriously? You chose this one to frame?" She looks up at him, amused, and he nods in agreement.

She can't quite believe it. Out of all the hundreds of _beautiful_ pictures their friends took of them with actual _cameras_ and in a dreamy setting, Jake picked the _one_ silly selfie they made with his phone while waiting at her old desk, not even in such a good quality. But, as she recollects the moment, it actually suddenly makes a lot of sense.

The bomb threat had just been out, and they were back at the precinct, still in their wedding outfits but not yet married, interrupted right in the middle of it, and Amy was starting to really feel stressed out about their ceremony turning wrong. She sat on her old chair and buried her hands into her hands, letting out an irritated sigh, but in just about a second Jake was by her side, making her look up by intertwining their fingers together and stroking her back, telling her that everything was going to be alright, that no matter what by the end of the day they would be husband and wife, and that it was all that mattered.

He told her months ago he would marry her in a dumpster if he had to, and that offer still stood.

(Hopefully they never got to get to that.)

He calmed her down the way only him ever knew how, and he made her laugh, her anxiety loosening with every new word he let out, and eventually he took out his phone as they were waiting for some updates on what was going on, starting to take pictures, telling her about how he wanted to capture that moment forever –

The day he was marrying the love of his life. Because not even a bomb could take how happy _this_ made him feel away from him.

She played along with him then, making silly faces at the camera, and when he came closer to press their heads together while pressing on the button of his phone, she swore she never felt so whole and loved and _in love_ than it that particular instant.

(In the end he was right. Before the sun set that day they were married indeed, even though it wasn't where, and how, they had initially planned it.)

(It was _better_ , in a sense.)

(It was _them_ – just like this photo is. A perfect representation of their relationship. Two best friends madly in love with each other.)

That's why, when she finally looks back up to her husband after staring at the picture for a while, there are a few tears prickling in Amy's eyes – happy, _emotional_ salty pearls.

"I love it. Thanks, babe," she finds her voice again. Moved by his attentions, she puts a hand on his heart, gently grabbing his shirt, and he covers it with his own, squeezing it between his fingers all the while looking at her with pure bliss in his eyes and a loving smile on his lips.

If they weren't in a room full of their subordinates, she would have kissed him right there, right now, but she has to restrain herself instead.

Quickly though, she draws herself away from him and goes around her desk, to carefully put the framed picture right next to the one that is already laying there, that she took from her old desk upstairs – another photo of the both of them. She takes a moment to look at them, a contented beam brightening up her face as she does so.

They've gone through some hard times in the past, like during that day the first picture was taken, as a few hours later Jake was wrongly found guilty for some crime, but she's glad now things seem to have fallen back to place for them, as the second picture shows it perfectly. They're united until the end.

(Only later that day will she notice, when it's her turn to visit his floor as she needs to talk to her Captain, that he actually framed the photo twice, keeping one for himself to put on his own desk, right in evidence in the middle of the mess that his desk is.

She smiles at the sight of it, and stops on her way back down to take a look at it – even if the same one is waiting for her on her own place.)

(And, as years go by, both their desks will get filled with more and more pictures, as their family grows bigger and bigger.)


	47. After the Party

**Post-5x19 (spoilers about that episode). Jake and Amy come back home after their bachelor/ette parties.**

* * *

The ride back home is relatively quiet.

Jake and Amy are both seated at the back of Reginald VelJohnson's car, (finally) the last two people he has to drive back to their apartment for the night. While Jake is attempting at making some kind of conversation with one of the heroes from his favourite movies, still in shock Charles managed to get him to participate in his bachelor party, Amy's head is comfortably lying on the crook of her fiancé's neck, eyes closed as she's starting to doze off, rocked by the road, with her fingers loosely clasped around Jake's hand on his lap.

"We're here," the actor eventually pulls over in front of the couple's building, turning towards them to let them know it's time for them to leave, so that he can head back to his own house after that crazy night he's been dragged into against his will – never will he ever again agree on being a surprise at a bachelor party – or any other party, for that matters, he promises himself.

Very gently, not to startle her, Jake pokes the woman's shoulder to wake her up, but it doesn't seem to work – on the contrary, all it does is to make her curl up even further against his side.

"Babe," he then calls her in a whisper, planting a sweet kiss on top of her head, right above the bandage covering her still fresh wound. "We're home."

"Mmmmh," she lets out a grunted sound, but eventually opens her eyes and agrees on following him outside and into their apartment, clinging onto him, barely standing on her two feet otherwise. He accompanies her into their bedroom, where he sits her on their bed before leaving her there.

"I'll be back in a sec," he softly tells her when he sees she's about to argue – she doesn't seem to want to let go of him.

Just like he promised, Jake is back in the room in no time, bringing two glasses full of water with him. He hands one of them to his fiancée, who quickly downs it.

"Thanks," she seems to find her voice back and be a little more awake now as well. "For everything, actually," she adds after a short, contemplative pause, looking up at Jake as she speaks. "I realise I didn't say it earlier."

He frowns.

"What else would you thank me for?" he curiously asks, taking a seat next to her on the edge of the bed. "I mean, apart from being an awesome fiancé, but that's no news," he can't help but tease, and that makes Amy both roll her eyes and let out a chuckle at the same time. She quickly falls all serious again, though.

"You wanted to surprise me by booking a band I liked for our wedding. That's so sweet."

She takes his hands in hers, never turning her gaze away from his, and he smiles. "I'm sorry I kinda ruined it."

"You didn't ruin anything," Jake immediately reassures her without second thought, squeezing their fingers together, and this time it's her turn to smile.

"Well, I don't think we'll manage to find another available band this close to the wedding…"

"We still have Judy's CDs," the man mockingly reminds her of the criminal's gift before he disappeared. "I think I'd rather have our first dance to a song about us smooching than some dude wanting to win you back anyway," he jokes and that makes Amy laugh, a real, __light__ one, all the guilt she's been feeling ever since she learned about that whole story disappearing at once.

She scoots over to get closer to her fiancé, gently cupping his face with her hands, and she presses a soft kiss on his lips. "I can't wait to marry you," she whispers as she lets her forehead rest against his, her hands going down to rest flat on his chest now.

"I can't wait to marry you too," Jake happily echoes her words.

There's a pause then, during which none of them talk while keeping their embrace tight. That is, until Amy dreamily starts drawing the lines on the detective's body with her finger. There's a new fire in her eyes when she eventually looks back up at him and watches him with a mysterious grin, the tiredness she felt earlier now completely forgotten.

"Also, speaking of smooching…" she beings in a suggestive voice, never stopping touching his torso. "I think I've cooled back down to 4-drink Amy…"

"Ooooh," Jake makes an appreciative sound at hearing the news, raising his eyebrows and the same kind of smile forming on his own lips, more than aware of what this means, and where it's inevitably going to lead them. "My favourite kind of Amy to finish the night with," he jokingly says, and in return Amy gives him a questioning stare, apparently not amused.

"I'm kidding. All the different shades of Amy are my favourite kind of Amy," he quickly corrects himself then before kissing her as an apology, starting soft before the woman quickly turns it into something more passionate, switching places so that she soon finds herself on his lap and straddling him.

He was right earlier – this __is__ the best night of his life indeed, ending it in the love of his life's arms, he can't help but think as he works on removing her jumpsuit.

(A thought that will be erased fast from his mind exactly three weeks later on the night of their wedding, though. Because __that__ will be the actual best night – best day, even – of his life.)


	48. Only You

**1x19 Canon-divergence I saw someone suggested on Tumblr to _fourdrinkamy_ : Amy hasn't put on any lipstick yet when Jake comes to talk to her, so he asks her out.**

* * *

" _Hey, before you go, I wanted to ask you something."_

" _Of course."_

As she answers him, Amy is looking at Jake, her brown eyes piercing carefully through his core, with a small, inviting – curious, even – smile lighting up her face. For just a second, before he talks again, he switches his gaze from her and over to Charles, who's standing behind her and discreetly listening to their conversation.

The older man nods in reassurance, and it's all it takes for Jake to take a deep breath, putting his eyes back on the other detective's.

"I was just wondering… would you like… to have a drink or something? Or maybe dinner?" he spills it all out at once, shrugging as he speaks. He tries to play it cool, as if this is just some random question with no further meaning, when in fact he's just handed his heart on a silver plate for her to make whole –

Or completely crush.

He has a feeling this is leading to the second option unfortunately, seeing her smile drop instantly when his words reach her. She furrows her brows in confusion, and he begins to think all of this was finally a bad idea. He shouldn't have listened to his best friend and his dumb advice.

He should have simply done what he does best: repress his feelings, like he's become so good at doing through the years, instead of acting on them for once.

But then she eventually finds her voice, and he's startled by her answer. "When?" she asks him. It's not much, not a plain 'yes,' and she still looks puzzled by such a request coming from _him_ – she's not so sure how she's supposed to take this – what it means exactly – if he's being serious or messing around with her, with a plan in mind. But at least she didn't push him away and denied it all right away.

It's enough to calm him down a little.

"I don't know. Tonight, maybe?" His mouth is dry, and he's a bit shocked too when realisation hits him that he's actually doing it, that he's _asking Amy out_ , and when he starts rubbing his hands together in a nervous gesture, he can feel his palms starting to get sweaty. "Unless you already have plans, of course," he quickly adds though, noticing how something immediately changes in her expression as soon as he mentions _tonight_.

"I do have plans actually," she replies. She shortly pauses after that, before she goes on confessing, "I'm going out with Teddy again."

She offers him an apologetic smile, but all he can focus on is the excited glow which appears in her eyes when she starts speaking about the other man. "But we can still do that another time?" She tries to come up with an alternative to his offer when she notices how upset her answer apparently makes him feel. Jake doesn't seem to hear her, too lost in his own mind.

"Oh." He only eventually manages to let out a gasp, his heart clenching in pain in his chest as the woman's words keep going in a loop in his head. _I'm going out with Teddy again._

It hurts.

For a moment Amy watches him in silence, not really understanding his reaction, nor why he suddenly looks so sad. "Wait, were you… asking me out?" she wants to know then, the only possible explanation she can come up with, despite how insane even just the thought of him being interested in her could be.

Of course she noticed how weirdly (and sometimes quite annoyingly, she has to admit) he acted during their whole day at Tactical Village, doing everything he could not to leave her and Teddy alone every time he approached her, but she thought he was just messing with her, like her partner always did. She didn't imagine there would be more to that.

Because after all, he _did_ crush one of her dates (and his own, in the meantime) once already, simply to prank her into believing she was going out with a criminal.

So such actions aren't news, coming from him. What's new though – and seems pretty surreal still –, is that he might _like her_ , if she's to trust his current behaviour towards her.

"Asking you out?!" Jake takes her out of her reverie when he repeats her last words with a laugh. She can tell he's forcing it, which makes her wonder even more. "Only in your dreams, Santiago! I just wanted to spend time with my friends," he tries to deny it all, joking being his best weapon for it, feeling too embarrassed to admit it –

That he _does_ like her indeed.

"Charles was going to be invited too." He turns over to the other detective, who's still there listening to them from afar. "What do you say, buddy? Wanna grab a drink together tonight? Only you and me since Amy seems to have better plans already…" The more he talks, the more obvious it becomes there's something wrong with him.

From the other side of the bullpen, Charles shakes his head in disapproval, but doesn't make any comment. He simply backs his friend by agreeing to his request.

"Perfect," he answers his colleague and thanks him with a nod before putting his whole attention back to Amy. "Another time, maybe," he repeats what she told him earlier. "In the meantime, have a good date, and I'll talk to you tomorrow." He tries to sound casual, and even manages a smile at her, but no matter his efforts, it barely reaches his eyes.

"Okay…" the woman trails off, still startled by what's happening. She wants to say more, doesn't want to leave things this way between the two of them, but it looks like Jake is done with this conversation already, leaving her side to join their shared friend. She simply leaves too then, so that she can herself meet with Teddy.

"Why didn't you tell her the truth?" Charles asks when she's gone and it's only him and Jake in the room. He seems disappointed that the man didn't go through with his initial plan.

"You didn't see her eyes when she talked about going out with Teddy. How happy she looked just thinking about their date. I'm just too late. Now can we stop talking about it and just get something to eat please?"

The older detective wants to argue, but seeing the other so devastated, he keeps his mouth shut and follows him outside the precinct.

* * *

"I'm really glad we bumped into each other again. It's so great getting to spend some time with you again. I didn't like how we left things off last year."

Amy and Teddy have been sharing a meal at the restaurant for more than an hour now. And, though it started out pretty well, she soon found herself contemplating with her head stuck on her plate, and her mind lingering despite herself on the conversation she had with Jake earlier. To say that he didn't confuse her would be an understatement.

"Mmmhmm," she mumbles her answer, barely listening to – and looking at – her date. She feels terrible she can't seem to give him her whole attention like he deserves, especially after the first dinner they shared, and how greatly the things went between the two of them. It'd been a while since she had felt like this around a man, even if it was only their first date.

(Not really their first, though.)

Or she just didn't want to admit at that time that a man was making her feel like that already, a man she got to spend so much of her time with, and had known for so long…

A man who apparently had feelings for her too.

"Is everything alright? You seem a bit off," Teddy takes her back to the reality of the moment with his remark. She fully looks up at him then and lets out a sigh.

"I'm sorry, it's just…" She pauses, not really knowing how to word it. Not really knowing what _it_ is either. What's going on with her.

But there's one thing she's sure of. That she has to put an end to _this_ , because she can't give the man false hope. Even if she wanted to give him a chance, such a relationship couldn't work.

Not when she's already thinking about someone else while being with him.

He's a good guy – he doesn't deserve being hurt, so it's better to end things before they even begin, she thinks. Whether something goes off the previous talk she had with her colleague or not.

"It's Jake, isn't it?" he finishes her sentence for her, and it startles her that he would make such an assumption – though he's not wrong, technically. She opens her mouth to speak, but he stops her before she has the chance to say another word.

"Amy, I'm not blind," he tells her. "I saw the way he acted every time I came near you the other day. Is there something going on between the two of you?"

"I don't know." Her answer is genuine, and full of sincerity. It's true things have been ambiguous between them sometimes, if she thinks about it – even more so since that night he took her out when she lost their bet, and she learned about him turning off on a release team the morning after. She never got the chance to confront him about that, now that she remembers.

Still though, she doesn't _know_ for sure if something could truly happen between the two of them.

"But… he said something to me today, and I think I'm willing to find out. I'm really sorry, Teddy."

"That's okay. I supposed I just missed my chance a year ago when I left."

An awkward silence takes over them after that. Amy doesn't know what she's supposed to do now – leave or stay, as her plate is still half-full – but then she decides it's better if she just goes, so she grabs her purse, and takes out some money to pay for her part of the meal, then gets up.

"It was good catching up with you," she says with an apologetic smile before they part for good, and despite everything, she means it.

* * *

"Ooooh, pizzas are finally here!" Charles excitedly exclaims when he hears a bang on Jake's door, grinning at him in an attempt to cheer him up. Not wanting to see anyone after the fiasco that had been his asking Amy out, the two men decided to simply order pizza from the detective's favourite restaurant and eat it at his place, only the two of them.

Jake stands up from his bed with a sigh, not even the thought of meat supreme being able to make him feel better, slowly walking to his door. He's been down since the moment the woman told him about her night plans with Teddy, and doesn't seem to have gotten slightly better since.

He takes a step back though, when he doesn't come face-to-face with a complete stranger when he opens his door, but with _Amy_ standing in front of him, offering him a nervous smile when their eyes eventually meet.

"Wh–…" He's about to say something, but she cuts him off.

"I couldn't stop thinking about what you told me earlier, about wanting to go out together and… I think I'd like that." Her smile softens into something more genuine, gaining more confidence as she speaks. "Y'know, to have a drink or something. Or maybe dinner," she repeats his words from when they were still at the precinct.

Silence fills the room when she closes her mouth, with Jake processing everything she just let out, until a huge beam lights up his face as realisation hits him – _hard_. "Are _you_ asking me on a date, Santiago?" he jokingly asks her, unable to act otherwise as it's difficult to believe that she's really _here_ and bailed on her actual date to tell him all of this – that she wants to go out with _him_.

"Maybe?" she answers with an amused grin. "I mean, if pizza and wine sounds like a date to you?" She shows him what she's been holding in her hands, and he laughs.

"That sounds perfect," he pushes himself to the side to let her in, still smiling broadly, unable – un _willing_ – to stop his mouth from twitching up. "Although…" he trails off, but he doesn't have the time to warn her of the other presence in his apartment, since she catches a glimpse of him before the brunette can say a word.

"Oh, Charles's here." She doesn't even try to hide the disappointment in her voice when she sees their colleague standing in the middle of the room. He's obviously followed the whole conversation, given the smile he's presently wearing on his face too.

"I knew it!" he exclaims in victory when she enters, seemingly proud of himself, his eyes switching from one of his friends to the other. He quickly calms down though, when he notices Jake's glare at him, silently praying him to leave the pair alone. He obliges then, squealing as he closes the door behind him with a last excited, "Enjoy your night, guys!"

"So, you said you brought pizzas?" the detective asks when they're all alone in his now rather quiet apartment.

"Yep. They come straight from your favourite place. Meat supreme, display temperature, right?" she enunciates, and it makes him chuckle – a warm, _happy_ sound.

"You know me so well."

She doesn't say anything back, simply smiles at him, then goes to his kitchen without asking, taking out two glasses out of one of the closets without even hesitating which one they're in once. And, as he watches her walk around his apartment as if she were at home there, Jake feels his heart suddenly get whole.

(Even more so when, later that night, after four glasses of wine, Amy unexpectedly cups his face into her hands and boldly kisses him, pressing her body against his.)


	49. Take My Hand, Come With Me

**SPOILERS 5x22. Heavily inspired by a scene from The Office, during Jim and Pam's wedding.**

 **The title is from Chris Brown's 'Forever.'**

* * *

Jake finds Amy sitting on a cardboard box in the evidence room, head down and buried in her palms.

She's in full wedding attire, from dress to veil to _everything_ , and he probably shouldn't be seeing her like this before the ceremony, but they got passed respecting the traditions hours ago already, when a bomb threat put their union on hold and they had to go back on detective and sergeant mode while all dressed up for their big day.

Still though, having seen her like this earlier doesn't prevent him from taking a pause, even just for a moment, to take in how beautiful she looks in that white gown.

She's absolutely _stunning_.

He approaches her after a few seconds of staring, and as he does so, she looks up at him, hearing steps coming her way. When their eyes lock, he can see in hers that she's been crying, all red and blurry from fresh, _sad_ tears. He hurries up to her side and sits down next to her, taking both her hands in his, worry suddenly overwhelming him.

"Babe," he gently calls her. "What's wrong?"

Amy sheepishly lowers back her gaze, taking one of her hands out of his to grab her veil before putting her attention back on Jake. "I ruined my veil," she sniffs.

She knows she's being silly, that this is not as much of a big deal as she's making it, and that she shouldn't be that devastated, but she can't help it. It's been a long day, filled with a lot of unexpected interruptions to what was supposed to be the best day of her life, and this has been the last straw that broke her down. Because it's the only thing she still had some control over, in all of that mess.

And she _ruined it_.

"And?" her (hopefully) very-soon-to-be-husband doesn't seem to see the problem here. He doesn't mock her, though, simply offers her a reassuring smile as he shamelessly confesses, "I ruined my suit too. I spilled some chocolate on it earlier," he shows her the barely noticeable stain on the black vest.

A chuckle escapes her throat through her tears at that, but it unfortunately only lasts for a second.

"Ames," the detective becomes all serious again then, gently forcing her to watch him. "It's just a veil. Who cares about that? You still look perfect," he promises her in all sincerity.

"You're only saying that because you love me," she stubbornly retorts.

"You're right," he surprisingly doesn't try to contradict her. "I do love you. So much so that I once told you I would marry you in a dumpster. So I think I know what I'm talking about when I say this is no 'dumpster look.' You _really_ look wonderful, Ames. Ruined veil and all."

She truly softens at his words this time, warming up inside. She's about to say something in return, but Jake doesn't stop there. He leans over to the side, where he grabs a utility knife laying next to them, and without a warning, starts cutting his bow tie.

Amy can't help but slightly cringe at the sight of him _purposefully_ ruining his suit, but deep down her heart only melts at what he's willing to do for her – the sweet meaning behind such a simple (and probably dumb) gesture in appearances.

"There," he looks back up at her when he's done, a small, amused smile lighting up his features. "We're even now."

A single tear falls on Amy's cheek, but this time it's not a sad one – more like a salty pearl full of emotions and pure _love_ for this man that she'll soon call her _husband_.

(How lucky she is that he wants her as his _wife_ and share their whole lives together.)

She puts a hand on his chest and mindlessly starts playing with the cut part of his bow tie, her glowing gaze fixed on his, still so amazed. "I love you so much," she whispers.

"I love you so much too." Jake leans over to her and softly puts his lips on hers in a gentle kiss – probably another tradition of 'not kissing the bride on the day of your wedding before _the one_ at the end of the ceremony' he's screwing with, but after everything they've been through today, he doesn't think it matters anymore.

All that matters is that Amy looks a lot better, and calmer when they eventually part.

"I'm sorry about that," she apologizes, feeling a bit ashamed about her breakdown now that she's thinking straight again. "I know I'm making a whole fuss out of nothing, but… with everything that's been going on today… it's driving me crazy. It was supposed to be our big day, and now it keeps being put on hold. I just… I'm tired of waiting – I want to marry you now."

Jake understands. After all, he's tired of waiting too. That's why an idea suddenly pops inside his head, and his smile only grows wider when he looks at the woman in front of him.

"Let's do it, then," he suggests, and she raises a startled eyebrow at that. "Let's get married here," the detective further explains himself. As he speaks, he quickly stands up and offers her his hand for her to take so that they can leave the room and go back upstairs, showing her how serious he is about this.

They don't need a big ceremony – everyone they need to be there is here already.

Amy's only response is to beam back at him and take his hand in agreement, letting him lead her outside.

(Only 30 minutes later, thanks to all of their friends' help to decorate the place, they're pronounced husband and wife in front of their building and their squad – Amy's veil completely forgotten and Jake's bow tie replaced by another one Holt lent him –, and it's the most beautiful moment they've ever lived in their entire lives.)


	50. Young and Beautiful

"Babe?"

Jake and Amy are comfortably curled up on their couch, none of them paying attention to what's on the TV in front of them anymore, with the woman gently stroking her husband's hair, absentmindedly watching him as he's starting to doze off, lulled to sleep by her soothing touch, when she notices _it_. The detective only hums in answer, so she goes on.

"I think you're growing grey hair," she casually, yet half-amusedly, tells him.

When he previously had his eyes shut, her words make him open them suddenly, just as he draws himself from his wife's embrace and stares at her with a big, shocked, now very-well awake look. "No, I'm not!" he defensively exclaims. "I'm too young for that!"

His overreaction only makes Amy laugh. She already knew he wouldn't take the news well when she first opened her mouth.

"Sorry to break it to you babe, but you are," she nods with her lips curled, contradicting him. "Face it, you're getting old, _grandpa_ ," she can't help but tease him.

"Urgh, don't call me _that_ ," Jake pouts as he complains. " _You're_ the one who's getting old and needs glasses for not seeing clearly."

He doesn't seem to want to admit the truth, so the woman leans over the coffee table to pick up her phone, rolling her eyes at his silly response. "You know I already wear glasses." She then unlocks the front camera of the device and shoves it in front of his face.

"Take a look by yourself, if you don't want to believe me."

She pretends being hurt when in fact this whole situation amuses her a lot – she loves seeing Jake rise up in such a small detail about himself.

There's a pause following that, during which the detective studies himself in the phone's camera, touching his hair in search of where it's _supposedly_ turning grey. The moment he notices too, his whole expression switches instantly, and Amy, who's still holding the phone in her hands, is thankfully quick enough to snap it in a shot of the both of them, capturing the instant forever.

The contrast between their two faces – she's beaming while he looks utterly devastated – is quite funny, and she can't stop laughing when she watches the result picture.

"Ames, am I getting old?" Jake, on the other hand, doesn't seem one bit amused by the situation, freaking out about his age, his eyes still fixed on himself through the camera.

"Well, technically, yes you are… We all are," she simply shrugs, answering him matter-of-factly.

"You're supposed to back me up on this! Y'know, tell me that I'm still looking as dashing and young as when you met me… That's how's marriage supposed to work."

"I thought marriage was about never lying to your partner?" Amy jokes, before she softens and offers her husband a tender smile. She lowers her phone from in front of his face and puts it where it used to lay on the table, then turns her whole attention back on him, taking his hands in hers on his lap.

"It's just a few strands," she reassures him. "Nothing to be so dramatic about. But, if it helps, I have to admit… I find it rather sexy," she whispers to his ear, a light chuckle escaping her throat. "I think it suits your 'future dad' look perfectly." She watches him knowingly, and that's all Jake needs to fully calm down and smile back at her.

Which soon turns into a real beam of his own, as he switches his gaze from his wife's to her slightly bumpy belly. He brings one of his hands away from hers to sweetly, mindlessly rub it.

"We're gonna be parents," his existential crisis is completely forgotten by now, marveling at the life that's creating inside his soulmate's body with sparkles in his shiny eyes when he affectionately whispers the words.

"We're gonna be parents," the woman repeats in a same tone of voice, using her now free hand to put it back on his (greying) hair, watching him watch her like she's one of the few wonders of this world.

Getting old doesn't look so bad anymore, finally. Because getting old also means starting new adventures. _Together._


	51. When Tomorrow Comes

**When Tomorrow Comes (We'll Start Our New Life)**

The bed is huge. Bigger than the one they have at home, Amy notices, and not only because she doesn't have to share it with anyone tonight.

More than one time did she have to sleep in her own bed alone, during the past years, so she can tell the difference. And tonight is quite different indeed – tonight, she's sleeping alone in that hotel room in deep Staten Island for a _good_ reason. Because tonight is her last night before Jake and her wedding.

Because tomorrow, when she'll go back to bed, she'll actually be married to her soulmate, the love of her life.

The very-soon-to-be Jake Peralta- _Santiago_.

Still though, right now Amy wishes those stupid traditions wouldn't exist, and that she'd be allowed to keep him by her side. They might have parted ways only a couple hours ago, she still misses him already, and the room's too quiet for her to properly fall asleep – she's become accustomed to his breathing next to her at night.

So much so that complete silence doesn't feel right anymore.

She sighs, about to give up on getting enough rest before the long day awaiting her, when her phone buzzes for a second on the bedside table. She frowns, a bit startled at first – she didn't expect anyone texting her this late. But soon, her frown turns into a smile when she reads the name that appeared on her screen.

Jake Peralta:

 _You asleep?_

Amy straightens a bit against her pillow, making herself at ease before answering her fiancé.

 _Nope._

 _Can't sleep._

Her phone buzzes again just a few seconds later, lighting up the dark room with her screen switching on and showing her wallpaper – some silly selfie Jake and she took after they closed their last case together to immortalize it. She takes a moment to look at it, heart warming in her chest and her smile only growing wider.

(Boy, does she love that man.)

 _Me neither,_ the message writes. _Nervous?_

 _Excited,_ she corrects.

 _Me too._

 _Wanna come over?_ Amy starts texting back – after all, he's only staying one floor behind her – but she doesn't send it right away. She takes a pause, contemplating in hesitation what she just wrote, with her thumb hovering over the phone, ready to press the 'send' button.

She wants to be with him for sure but doesn't know if making him come over would be such a good idea. Not that she believes in said stupid traditions – she doesn't – but she knows how things will end up if they find themselves in the same bed tonight, and that's definitely not how she'll manage to get some rest before their big day either.

In the end, she chooses to send it anyway – because then again, she's not sleeping without him either.

Not only a second later does she receive his answer. _I'm already here_ … And, just as she reads it, she hears a knock on her door that makes her look up from her phone. She's only startled for a second before she quickly gets up and opens her door, coming face-to-face with her grinning fiancé, whose features light up when their gaze finally meet.

A true beam spreads across her face too. "You were there the whole time?" she suspiciously asks, and he gives her a mysterious look.

"Maybe…"

Amy rolls her eyes, if only for the form, as her heart warms up in her chest. She takes a step closer to him and, when she's close enough, presses a soft kiss on his lips, that soon turns into something more passionate. Jake is the one to end it by reluctantly pulling away, an apologetic look in his eyes as he explains, "I can't stay long. Charles's going to kill me if he wakes up and I'm not in the room. He insisted we shared one so that _this_ wouldn't happen."

He points to the both of them.

"Oh well," the woman chuckles before kissing him again, talking between two pecks on his lips. "We wouldn't want something to happen to you then… I wouldn't want to go down the aisle and have no one waiting for me there…" He laughs along with her, but despite her words, none of them actually stop and let go of the other.

On the contrary, even – with his hands wrapped around his fiancée's waist, Jake gently pushes her back into the room while holding her, leading her towards the bed, quickly giving up on the promise he made to himself when he left his own room earlier: that he would just kiss her goodnight and leave right away.

(He's a fool for thinking that would even have been a possibility.)

"Well, he doesn't have to know… He was snoring hard when I left him. I can sneak back in before he wakes up."

"That sounds like a great idea," Amy hums her agreement, taking him with her as she falls onto the huge mattress with a mischievous grin.

(Needless to say that later, once they're all curled up in bed and Amy's deep asleep against his side, holding onto him as if she's holding onto life itself, Jake doesn't have the heart to move and go away from her, and simply falls asleep with her too.)

(It's only in the morning that they open their eyes again, woken up by Charles shooting through the door. "Jake! I know you're in there!"

But, when the couple comes and opens to him hand-in-hand and glowing from happiness by just being together, his anger leaves his body immediately, and instead of yelling at his best friend again, he simply takes the two lovers into a tight embrace, a single tear running down his cheek.

"Guys, this is it. It's your wedding day," he sniffs between their arms, and they simply smile in return.

This is it indeed.)


	52. What Tomorrow Could Bring

The ladies of the Nine-Nine are in charge of some last-minute mission together for their ex-Captain-become-commissioner and his husband's vows renewal ceremony they finally managed to organise after years of talking about doing it when Amy suddenly rushes out of the main room and towards the bathroom without a warning.

She remains there for a good five minutes, leaving the other two alone, which allows her a suspicious look from her friends when she comes back, staring intently at her while she goes back to what she was doing before she disappeared and acts like nothing happened. Eventually though, feeling the women's hard gaze on her in utter silence still after a full 30 seconds of having returned, she looks up at them, watching them questioningly as they didn't move an inch – and don't seem like doing so anytime soon.

"What?" she asks and sounds a little irritated when she speaks. "These decorations won't put themselves on the walls by themselves, you know."

"So you're just gonna ignore what just happened?" Rosa snaps back – she couldn't care less about those dumb decorations right now.

"What happened?" Amy feigns ignorance, though her heart starts beating faster in her chest, not liking where the conversation is most likely leading up to already.

"You rushing out to throw up. For the second time this morning."

"I didn't go to throw up!" The brunette tries to defend herself, but from the look her friends give her in return, it's obvious they don't believe her.

"You got a stain on your shirt," Gina points with a disgusted grimace, and Amy quickly, worriedly lowers her gaze down to it, only to find nothing but a still pretty neat shirt there.

"Yeah, you definitely don't have anything to hide." She exchanges a knowing glance with Rosa after her trick worked.

The Sergeant sighs, defeated.

"Okay, fine. I think I might be pregnant. I haven't been feeling too well lately, and I'm – I'm a week late already," she confesses what the others already guessed.

It's the first time she says her thoughts out loud since it occurred to her that she might be with child, and her heart tightens in her chest at the sound of it coming from her own mouth – in a good, _warm_ way. She might be _pregnant_.

"You _think_?" Rosa repeats, emphasising on the last word in gentle mockery. "Dude, you're totally pregnant. I thought you'd be the kind of person who takes a test…"

"… More like three," Gina interjects and grins when she sees Amy's cheeks turn red at her remark, lowering her gaze – it's definitely her style.

"The minute you realise you're late," the brunette finishes her sentence. "Why didn't you?"

"I –…" The concerned woman pauses a second to think of what to say next. "I don't know. I wanted to, but I've been so busy with work and helping to put this ceremony together with all of you guys, I didn't have the time, and I didn't even get the chance to talk to Jake about the possibility, so…"

"You have a pregnancy test on you?" Rosa cuts her off before Amy starts rambling too much, and though it's clearly a question, it sounds more like a fact – she knows the cop well, and is pretty sure she's been carrying the stick with her since Day 1 of being late, contemplating taking it or not every chance she got.

(And apparently always deciding against it each time.)

"Maybe… why?"

"What are you waiting for? Go do it now," her friend nods in direction of the bathroom.

"No!" Amy's voice is higher than usual when she denies the detective's words. "What if it comes back positive? I don't want to steal Holt and Kevin's day with the news."

"And you don't want to spend the whole day wondering about 'what ifs' instead of enjoying yourself if you don't either," Rosa gently pushes her towards the lady's room all the while making her point.

"Plus I don't want to miss dealing with drunk Amy for nothing if you're not but don't know it," Gina joins in with her own argument – not necessarily the most convincing one, though. "I need a new side of you to mock. It's time you stop skipping 7-drink Amy and face the truth of who she is."

Amy rolls her eyes at that, but still manages a small chuckle. It takes her a few seconds of weighing the pros and cons, but eventually, she decides her friends are right and gives in. "Okay." She follows them to the bathroom after making a stop to pick up her purse, but before she goes into one room, she turns to them with a serious look.

"If it comes back positive, you have to promise me you'll keep it a secret. Jake can't know about this."

"Oooooh, he's not the father?!" the red-head suddenly seems all the more interested in the matter now.

"What?! No!" Amy exclaims in indignation – she knows Gina's only joking, but still – the simple thought of her cheating on her husband is a true shocker to her. "Of course he is. _If_ I'm pregnant, that is."

"Why then?" Rosa asks. "You can't be afraid of how he'll react, right? Dude's literally waiting for you to get pregnant. We interrogated a woman who just had a baby the other day, and he couldn't focus on the job, going on and on about how cute a mini-you and he would look like," she pouts, as if truly disgusted by the memory.

(In reality, she _did_ find it extremely cute, but there's no way she'll admit that out loud.)

"He did?" the brunette immediately softens at the words, a small, endearing smile lifting up the corners of her mouth while the image of her husband comes into her mind.

Suddenly, she doesn't feel so stressed about that whole situation anymore – though he's never really been the reason why she would stress out about it.

(Not in _that_ way, at least.)

"Yep. It was gross," Rosa takes her back to the reality of the moment. "So you have nothing to fear."

"I'm not afraid of how he might react. Well, I am. But I'm not afraid he'll react badly – that's more like the contrary," Amy tries to explain herself. "I'm afraid he'll be so happy he won't be able to keep it to himself and we'll crush Holt and Kevin's day by making it about us. So promise me whatever the result, it'll stay between us?"

"Okay," both women nod, and it's with a relieved sigh that their friend enters the room, finally ready to face her fate, and know if her future is about to completely be turned upside down or remain the same (for now, at least).

* * *

Five minutes turn into ten and Amy's still locked inside the room, with no sound coming out of it, not any form of a hint that she got a result – and what it might be.

"You dead in there?" Gina eventually knocks on her door, not so patient anymore.

It takes the brunette another few seconds until she unlocks the door and goes out, her fingers curled up hard on the stick. When she looks up to meet her friends' gaze, there are tears in her brown, shiny eyes, and some already falling down her cheeks as well. She doesn't have to speak for Rosa and Gina to understand – the bright smile she wears as well says it all. They smile back and rush to her to pull her into a tight shared embrace, and that's only then that Amy lets out the words.

"I'm pregnant."

Of course, the first thing she wants to do when she learns the – great – news is to go to Jake and share it with him, but she fights against her better instinct, no matter how hard it is not to tell him right away. Today's not their day. Today's their 'work dads' day. The ceremony will end at night, when the foetus will still very much be there.

She'll let him know then, in the intimacy of their room, when it's only the two of them and they can properly freak out about the fact – _they're gonna be parents_.

She's pretty sure he'll understand her choice.

Still, though, it doesn't make it easier, when he comes to her several times with a glass of champagne for her and she has to quickly think of an excuse to decline his offer or even harder when the person officiating the ceremony starts making a heartful speech about love and _family_.

She can't help a tear falling down her cheek as she watches her husband from the corner of her eye, with a hand softly stroking her stomach, thinking about the life that's growing inside it. He's crying too when he turns to look at her with a bright, knowing smile and reaches for her hand to squeeze, and she almost blurts it out right there – almost screams to the world that they, too, are about to build a family of their own really soon.

(Or more especially _make it grow_.)

She has to act distant to prevent blowing it all out despite herself then, and she hates it. Her husband can sense there's something off with her, of course he can, and starts wondering why she seems to be avoiding him like this, but every time he asks her about it, Amy assures him everything's fine, so he doesn't insist, and simply lets her be.

Until the night comes in, and he sees her watching Holt and Kevin – and other couples around them – slow dancing together with a soft smile lighting up her features. He recognises the song playing in the background immediately, and a smile appears on his own face too, thrown back to another time, another wedding.

When a song that used to remind him of heartbreak turned into a beautiful memory that particular night.

 _I'm all out of love, I'm so lost without you…_

He slowly approaches his wife then, standing next to her, talking with his eyes stuck on the main couple on the dancefloor. "They're playing our song," Jake quietly states with an amused beam, and Amy turns to look at him, brows furrowed in dire confusion.

"Since when is this our song?" She doesn't really understand. "I thought this was your 'post-being dumped by Jenny Gildenhorn' song."

Her husband's smile turns mysterious before he explains himself. "It was. Until you tricked me into believing I'd get a slow dance with you to this song at Charles and Gina's parent's wedding and I realised I wanted that so much more than any dance with Jenny. Two seconds of flirting with me were all it took to make me fall head over heels for you again. Or did I ever stop being?"

This time, it's Amy's turn to smile back at him, touched by his words, heart warming up in her chest. She doesn't say anything, though, so he tries his luck, reaching for her hand. "Five years later, can I actually get my slow dance now?"

For a moment Amy hesitates – she's not sure she will manage to keep the news to herself any longer if they put themselves in such intimacy – but then she catches Jake's smile falters as seconds pass and she remains quiet, so in the end, she nods and lets him guide her into the crowd.

At first, they move in complete silence – Jake's hands are around Amy's waist while hers are hooked around his neck, and their foreheads touch, eyes half-closed as they linger into this instant. But then, after a while of them moving around in shared rhythm, the detective asks the question that's been concerning him all day long.

"Are you mad at me about something? You barely talked to me today." He seems really afraid he did something wrong.

"No, I'm not mad at all!" his wife is quick to reassure him, drawing herself a bit away from him so that she can look him in the eye while talking. "On the contrary, babe."

Her smile is mysterious and all of this makes him feel even more lost. "Why were you trying so hard to avoid me then?"

"I'm sorry, it's just…" She pauses, looking away towards Holt and Kevin for a second, who stopped dancing and are now happily chatting with Teddy and his wife, before putting her gaze back on her own husband. "You know what, screw this."

She waited long enough, she decides. She can't keep it a secret any longer – screw the intimate reveal, screw not stealing her 'work dads' day. It's almost over, anyway.

Jake frowns, startled, but doesn't say anything – simply waits for her to go on, which she does. "I know I should have told you this as soon as I found out," she starts her apology, "But I didn't want to 'ruin' Holt and Kevin's day, and I knew if I spent time with you I'd just blurt it out so I avoided you, and I'm really sorry for that, but…"

"Ames," he cuts her in the middle of her ramblings, feeling that she's starting spiralling, and stops still in their movements in the middle of the dancefloor even though the music's still loud around them, his eyes piercing through her with a small, reassuring smile. "Whatever it is, you know you can tell me."

"Okay," she smiles back, calming down, and takes a deep breath before she lets it all out, moving one of her hands from around his neck to his own still pressed against the skin of her waist, and delicately puts it on her stomach. She leans her forehead against his as she finally confesses, "I'm pregnant."

"You're… pregnant?" Jake repeats, not so sure he understood well.

"I am," Amy confirms, starting to feel tears prickling her eyes when she speaks.

There's a pause, then a whisper.

"We're gonna be parents," Jake lets the thought linger in his mind for a little longer, his hand slowly and ever so carefully drawing patterns on his wife's stomach, still stuck under her own. She can feel his falling tears when he leans over and kisses her, again and again, unable to restrain himself.

 _They're gonna be parents._

When they pull apart, and their watery eyes meet, it seems like realisation completely finishes to hit him – _hard_.

"WE'RE GONNA BE PARENTS!" he repeats the same words he let out before, _yelling_ them this time, for the whole room to hear. And though this is what she's been 'scared' of the whole day, Amy can't help but let out a happy giggle at his reaction, his joyfulness being contagious.

She wasn't able to properly freak out before, and there's nothing better than doing so with her husband. _THEY'RE GONNA BE PARENTS!_

(In the distance, among the dozens of guests watching them with confused or grinning looks after that announcement, Charles, him, faints.)


	53. Alegría

**To answer your question, _Guest_ :** **idk why this title. I just needed something that would work for a series of OS that** **have nothing in common other than being about Peraltiago, and I wanted something that came directly from the show, and I love that** **ep so… that's it lol.**

 **Anyways, this one comes from a prompt I received on Tumblr months ago and finally took the time to write.**

* * *

Jake comes back home to the sound of giggles and muffled whispers. But, he who's usually welcomed by two little dark-haired girls running towards him the minute they hear the door open, this time strangely finds himself completely alone when he enters their house. Even Amy isn't here to greet him, despite her being on a day off.

He follows the distant, happy noises to where they're coming from then, which lead him inside his and his wife's room. He finds the loves of his life there, the three of them sitting on the bed, their mother in the middle of the two young girls, a binder spread open on her lap.

She's showing them something in it – something very _funny_ , apparently, if he's to believe their laughter filling the air.

"Hi, babies! What are you guys doing?" Jake leans against the frame of the door, a grin lighting up his features while he watches them, their joy highly contagious.

"Daddy!" Ana and Sarah exclaim in the same voice when they finally notice their father before they exchange a look and burst into a new wave of giggles, their little hands covering their mouth as they do. The detective's smile turns into a frown, confused by their reaction. He shoots a questioning glance at Amy, who simply shrugs at him in return, acting as if she has no clue of what's happening while doing her best to contain her own laughter.

The whispers are back after that, loud enough for him to hear, yet he's unable to understand what his daughters say… because they're speaking _Spanish_.

When his wife first suggested their children should be raised with both their languages during her first pregnancy, Jake immediately found the idea quite endearing. He loved it when the woman talked Spanish with some of her relatives during reunions with her side of the family, after all – even if he couldn't understand a word of it.

He tried learning, once, shortly after they started dating 'for realz.' But he soon abandoned the idea – he didn't have the time to practice it enough for it to stick into his brain permanently, and in a matter of just a few weeks, he was back to square one, with no other knowledge than the simple 'hello,' 'thank you' and 'I love you.'

Still, he enjoyed the sound of it very much, when it came out of Amy's mouth – it was very soothing. Even more so after their first daughter's birth, when his wife started singing her lullabies in this tongue to take her to sleep – the same ones her own mother would sing to her when she was an infant too or, later, when she'd have anxiety attacks and it would be the only thing able to calm her down.

(The same ones she would sing to _him_ after his time in jail, when he'd wake up all sweaty from an all too vivid nightmare and she'd smooth his hair and hold him tight against her chest, softly humming the words in a whisper in his ear until he managed to go back to sleep.)

He'd never heard, nor seen, something more beautiful before. So, despite him being unable to talk nor understand one of the two languages, in the beginning, Jake simply loved the idea of his children being fluent in both English and Spanish. That was, until times like right now, when they're exchanging words in their mother's tongue in secret, eyes drifting from the binder in front of them to him then the other, and laughing harder every time.

At least he understands clearly that they're (gently, of course) mocking him – and instead of backing up her husband, Amy seems pretty amused by the situation as well.

"Could someone share what's making you laugh so much? I wanna laugh too!" He approaches the members of his little family, trying to sound upset as he speaks, but his pout soon turns into another grin when his daughters suddenly close their mouth, chewing on their lower lip to prevent themselves from talking while watching him.

They look adorable, he can't help but think. A perfect mix between him and Amy.

He takes a seat on the bed next to them then, and that's when he sees _it_.

Carefully put aside in the binder is an old, rather shameful, picture of him with longer hair and wearing a ring nose, dating from when he was in high school. "You kept it!" He looks up at his wife, whose eyes are filling with tears for restraining herself from laughing too much – it's becoming harder and harder not to, given the falsely blaming look he's shooting at her right now.

"Of course I did," she finally lets out a chuckle, putting a hand on his tight and squeezing lightly, offering him an apologetic smile as an attempt to be forgiven. "It was too good to be left behind and forgotten. And it's a good thing I did: look how happy it makes our daughter seeing their father at the best of his style," she mocks him.

" _You…_ " Jake sighs and shakes his head, but he can't help but release a giggle of his own, coming closer to his wife to circle her waist with one of his arms. She immediately eases against his side, letting her head fall onto his chest, with her eyes finding the picture again.

She tries to remain discreet, but her husband can feel her body stutter with her quiet laughter against him. "Wait until I ask your brothers for embarrassing pictures of you," he warns her, whispering into her ear. "You'll laugh much less when the girls will make fun of _you_."

"Is that a threat, Mr. Santiago?" Amy draws herself away from him so that she can meet his eyes, her own shining with amusement.

"Maybe…" he teases before he brings her back to her, planting a kiss on her mouth.

"Well, at least I'll understand what they say about me."

As if on cue, feeling left aside by her parents' banter, Ana tries to bring the attention back on her – she's not done having fun yet. "Estaba muy guapo, papa!" she teases him, pointing at the picture with a grin while joining the adult's embrace, soon followed by her older sister.

"What did she say?" he turns to Amy and is forced to ask, defeated.

"That you were very beautiful. Obviously, she's making fun of you," the woman mocks.

"You find this funny, huh?" Jake looks at his daughter, eyebrow raised in question, and when she nods, her bright smile showing her dimples, he draws himself away from his wife to grab the little girl without a warning and starts tickling her sides, making her small giggles quickly turn into loud, light bursts of laughter.

Soon Sarah and Amy are invited to join in, the whole family happily fighting together on the bed, filling the room and whole house with their sounds of happiness.

(Later that night though, when the girls are long gone and asleep in their own room and beds and Jake and Amy are curled up in their own, the man turns towards his wife with a serious look on his face. "You think you could teach me Spanish?" he asks, and the woman's eyes grow bigger at the question.

She feels like she's been waiting for that moment to happen forever.

"Oh my God, yes!" she ever-so enthusiastically answers, and starts rambling about making a schedule, and how they should divide his learning in different lessons, Jake watching her in silent, an amused, loving smile brightening his features.)

(When two years after that, they welcome a boy in their family, Amy's not the only one constantly talking to him in Spanish to get him used to the language from his birth. Jake is too, happily putting into practice everything his wife taught him with their newborn.)


	54. Rewrite the Stars (You'd Be the One)

**The Good Place AU, in which Jake isn't supposed to be there and Amy pretends to be his soulmate to help him out… until her _true_ soulmate comes into the picture**.

* * *

 **Rewrite the Stars (You'd Be the One I Was Meant to Find)**

This is supposed to be the _Good_ Place – so why does Jake feel like his heart is being crushed into pieces inside his chest right now?

He knows he shouldn't complain – knowns he shouldn't even be there in the first place – but still, it hurts. Watching the woman he foolishly started to have feelings for, the woman that was presented to him as his _soulmate_ upon his arrival, get ready for a date with someone that isn't _him_ hurts.

Knowing that her real soulmate, the one she's been waiting for the whole time – the one they thought he'd deprived her of by entering her life when he shouldn't have –, is going to arrive any minute now to take her out to that fancy restaurant Raymond booked for the two of them to make up for his mistake, _hurts_.

She's wearing lipstick, his personal favourite shade of mauve, the one she usually wears on important occasions and that goes so well on her – the one he's dreamed so many times of removing with a kiss of his own, or leaving marks on his face caused by the soft brush of her mouth against his skin. Her so-often tied-in-a-bun-or-ponytail dark hair has been gotten loose, curling a little at the tips on her shoulders and framing her glowing, beaming features as she walks around the house in search of a jacket in an excited pace.

He's never seen her so radiant than she looks right now, in the few months they've learned to know each other.

And he should be happy for her – happy that his _friend_ seems happy – but the truth is he's completely devastated.

His whole life he was sure he would die alone, which he did, but then his case got mistaken and he arrived in this Good Place instead of where he truly belonged – the _Bad_ Place, if he was to believe the rules of this world, though he doesn't exactly know why, since he thought he always lead a pretty decent and honest life – and got paired up with this brilliant, beautiful, somewhat nerdy woman they called his soulmate and he thought this was it. His second chance.

Having to wait for the afterlife to get what he so wished for didn't bother him too much then if it meant getting it with _her_ and having all of eternity to make up for lost times, but then once again, it was taken away from him.

"There… seem to have bee a problem with our algorithm," Raymond, the Architect who built this place came to their house in the morning, with another man Jake had never seen in the neighbourhood before standing by his side. "Teddy just arrived in the Good Place," he pointed at the stranger, before looking back at his friend. "And it would seem that he is your true soulmate, Amy."

And just like that, the former detective felt like dying again, his chest pressing hard – so hard – _too_ hard – against the cool metal of that window before his rope suddenly broke and he fell to the ground in a loud _thump_ as he had been trying (and obviously failed beautifully) to make an exit Die-Hard stylez.

It was the same kind of crushing pain all over again, though there was no death to deliver him from it this time, no big, bright light nor waking up in some waiting room facing a wall with its huge writing on it – " _Everything is fine._ "

No, everything _wasn't_.

Raymond talked more, explaining what happened in further details, apologising again for the mistake, and Amy seemed to carefully listen to each word he let out, while Jake, him, couldn't concentrate on what this immortal being had to tell them. His eyes were fixed on that other man, the true love of the woman he himself loved.

"Nice to meet you, soulmate," _her_ voice brought him back to the reality of the moment when she approached Teddy and offered him her hand.

 _Not_ nice at all, he thought – especially when, only a few minutes later, dinner was already being planned between the two for the same night, and he saw the woman blush and chuckle from the corner of his eye when Teddy started talking about 'looking forward to it.'

(It took him _days_ to make her only smile at one of his brilliant jokes.)

(But then again – he's _not_ her soulmate.)

At that particular moment, Jake could have sworn he never took someone else's place and that he had been, in fact, in the Bad Place all along because there was _no way_ torture like this existed in a place called the _Good_ Place. Nothing's worse than breaking someone's heart – his own, in that case.

"Is this too much?" Amy takes him out of his reminiscence of the events of the morning by suddenly appearing in front of him, now completely ready and waiting for her date to arrive, watching him with an unsure, worried glint in her shining brown eyes.

He studies her for a second, taking in her beauty, and manages a small smile, which doesn't really reach his own eyes. "You look great," he tells her to reassure her – and because she truly does – and that makes her smile too, his words alone able to calm her nervousness down immediately.

 _You always do_ , Jake wants to add, but keeps it to himself. There's a pause after that then; none of them really knows what to say next, staring at the other in an awkward silence. "What happens next?" Amy finally breaks it, and when her friend looks up at her, there's now some kind of sadness in her eyes.

It takes him a few more quiet seconds to understand what she means – what happens next to _them_ – to _him –_ to his secret?

"I don't know."

And it's true. He doesn't know. He didn't even think about it once before, to be honest, about what would be the consequences of the woman's true soulmate coming into her life on him, too distraught by his own hurt. It's probably a matter of days – maybe even hours – before they discover he's not who (and where) he's supposed to be now that he's not known as Amy's soulmate anymore.

Now that he doesn't have anyone he belongs to.

He's not so sure he cares about all of this – his secret, the possibility of being sent to the Bad Place – anymore either. He has no reason to stay, without the woman by his side. And nothing they will make him go through down there will ever be as painful as seeing her happy with someone else either.

(Though they've never been a real thing, _together_.)

"Maybe they won't connect the problem to you. Maybe this is all for the better, as you'll be free of me, and able to find your own, _true_ soulmate too." Amy tries to be supportive, try to make him show the bright side of the situation as she talks with a reassuring smile (which he can tell she's forcing a little, though, not believing her own words too much) and her hand on his arm, squeezing gently at it, but she doesn't know.

She doesn't know he doesn't want to be 'free of her.'

She doesn't know he doesn't care that some superior beings and their dumb algorithms decided they aren't meant to be, and there's someone better for each of them somewhere else. _No one_ will ever be better than Amy Santiago for him.

"Maybe…" Jake trails off, lowering his gaze, because there's nothing else to say and he can't stand watching her straight in the eye.

 _Or maybe when you come back, I won't be there anymore, taken back where I truly belong,_ it hits him suddenly that this might be the last time he sees her.

He bursts his look back up at her then, studying her carefully, wanting to print every feature of her lovely face in his head. She frowns, startled by his sudden change of behaviour and in that particular moment, he finally feels the urge to tell her how he feels.

Because he might never get another chance, he realises. And he'd hate himself forever if he doesn't take it now.

"Can I tell you something before you go?" His voice is low, serious.

"Of course. What's up?" In front of him Amy's expression switches from surprised to curious, her brown eyes piercing through his core as she waits for him to go on, watching him with an inviting small smile.

"You're right. Maybe nothing will happen to me, and I'll be able to stay. But maybe something will – they'll discover who I really am, and take me to the Bad Place. And if that happens, I can't leave without telling you something," Jake begins his confession.

"Tell me what?" The woman is getting scared by his grave tone.

The former detective takes a deep breath before he goes on. "I–… I know we're not meant to be, that the world has other plans for us and that Teddy's your true soulmate – I'm not questioning that, or trying to change it – but I just… I wish we wouldn't have had to pretend. I wish you were my soulmate – like, for realz."

Amy's mouth drops open in shock when he eventually closes his, done with everything he wanted to say. She's about to reply, but before she has the chance to let out even just a word, there's a knock on the door that interrupts them.

On instinct, she turns around to look at it. She can make Teddy's figure through the thin square of glass, and her heart clenches in her chest. When she focuses back on Jake, though, it's too late for her to answer.

"Anyways, you gotta go." He doesn't leave her time to react, nodding in direction of the man waiting for her on the other side of the house. "Have a good date."

And just like that, he disappears into his room, leaving her alone with his words still lingering in the air. _I wish you were my soulmate._

* * *

This is supposed to be the _Good_ Place – so why does Amy feel like her heart is being crushed into pieces inside her chest right now?

She knows she shouldn't complain – knows that she's right where she's supposed to be – but still, it hurts. It hurts because ever since she learned her soulmate wasn't really her soulmate and him taking someone else's place meant she would never meet her real one, she wished for that impossible moment to happen – the moment when she would meet the person she's _truly_ meant to be with – and now that she has him in front of her, she can't seem to appreciate it.

Because things have changed, since that day Jake sat her on their couch, only a few hours after meeting him, and blurred it all out. "I'm not supposed to be here."

Ensued months of lies, months of wondering what an afterlife with her _true_ love would have been like and more importantly… months of getting acquainted with this goofy, childish, though _caring_ man that pleaded her not to share his secret and help him stay in this place. Enough time to care for him, too.

 _I wish you were my soulmate – like, for realz._

Her friend's words are repeating themselves in her mind while she tries and concentrates (but fails) on what Teddy has to tell her, confusing, burning her skin even harder than this fire that killed her all those months ago.

 _Maybe they'll discover who I really am, and take me to the Bad Place._

She can't seem to imagine a life – no, _eternal death_ , even – without him, and this should tell something – something a lot more relevant than any algorithm will ever reveal.

Usually, Amy would never question a choice made by science – especially science coming from _higher identities_ – but following her friend's confession, and with what it does to her heart, she's lost and doesn't know what she should believe in anymore. Because true, Teddy's great and they do seem to have a lot in common – she can definitely see why he'd be considered as her soulmate.

But there are those feelings, that she tried to bury deep inside the minute she started feeling them and resurfaced when Jake told her about how he saw her, that tell another story. A story they wrote by themselves, without anyone telling them who they're supposed to be. And she might be liking that story – a lot.

She's not so sure she wants to let go of it just now then, and see where it goes if only she'd give it a chance – screw fate and what it has in store for her.

It's not like she believed in soulmates during her time on Earth, and it never prevented her from living her life well until now.

Though maybe, _this_ is what the universe wanted all along too. Maybe it's no coincidence that Jake was sent to the Good Place instead of someone else, and ended up being paired with her, of all people.

But in any case, she can't help but think, who cares what fate, superior beings, the universe or whatever those people in charge of these kind of afterlife places are called want? What truly matters is what _she_ wants deep inside.

And right now, she knows she wants _him_. Soulmate or not.

"Are you alright?" Teddy gently puts his hand on hers, softly stroking it with his thumb in an intimate move when he sees she's lost in her thoughts to make her look back at him. When she eventually does, she sees him watching her with a big, bright smile, and suddenly she feels like she's suffocating.

It's the last straw for her to come to the realisation: she can't do it. His touch doesn't feel right – doesn't feel like soulmates should. Doesn't feel like that one time Jake's knuckles accidentally brushed with hers over one last slice of pizza during one of Charles's parties and her heart literally exploded in her chest.

"I'm sorry, but this can't work. I already have a soulmate," she apologises, quickly removing her hand from his grasp then stands up and rushes out of the restaurant, leaving a confused Teddy behind as she heads towards Jake's – her – _their_ home without looking back at the other man once.

When she finally enters the house, her breathing short and loud for having run too fast, she finds the man she seeks spread on the sofa in front of some boring documentary (the kind the person he took the place of apparently loved) with a pot of 'completed crossword'-flavoured frozen yogurt on his lap ( _her_ personal favourite she asked Gina to fill their fridge with). At hearing the door open, he looks away from the screen and back, and when his eyes fall on Amy's dishevelled figure, he frowns, taken aback by her sight.

"Ames? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with your soulmate?" he asks, straightening up on the couch as he studies her carefully.

"Screw soulmates," she says as she approaches him, a new determination and boldness in her shining eyes he's never seen in her before. "You're the only one that matters."

And just like that, the next second she's sitting next to him, and all he can recall is her mouth claiming his. It takes him some time to properly respond, and he's still in shock when they part, not sure he understands what just happens, but then Amy's hand comes to softly brush his lip with her thumb and a contented smile, removing part of her mauve lipstick that she left there as they kissed, and his heart is instantly full again.

When she's done and he brings her back to him, hooking his arms around her waist to pull her closer and kiss her again, Jake can't help but think that this _is_ the Good Place indeed, finally – because he's never felt happier than in this moment, with the woman he loves loving him in return.


	55. When the Lights Go Down at a Concert

**Prompt asked by _middleclassaunty_ on Tumblr, "when the lights go down at a concert," part of a prompt list I made out of a list I found of the different flavours of frozen** **yogurts we can find in a menu in 1x05 of** **The Good Place.**

* * *

Jake and Amy are standing in the middle of a highly packed and loud crowd, (not so) patiently waiting for the lights to go down, and the concert they're attending to finally start. Jake insisted they come early so that they could claim good places inside the venue, and though it's true they have a pretty fine overview of the stage from where they stand, his new wife can't help but wonder if leaving their apartment in the middle of the afternoon and taking a whole day off work for this was really necessary. The detective seems happy, though, she can tell from the way his eyes keep looking around the place in pure awe, like a child taking in all the sights there are to see during a first trip to Disneyland, a bright, big smile lighting up his features, or the way he speaks, in a fast, excited voice and this is all that matters. After all, they're here for him; for his birthday.

"How did you do it?" her husband asks Amy, his shining gaze finally fixing on hers, still can't quite believing he is really here, in The Garden, about to assist to a concert by his favourite artist on this special day, when he thought he blew up his chance of ever seeing her again all those years ago, when he was sentenced to a lifetime of not being allowed within 500 feet of her.

"I have a few friends," the woman answers with a mysterious, secret grin.

He wants to know more, is about to plead for more details, opening his mouth to speak again, but all of a sudden her figure disappears from his view as all the lights around them go down at once and plunge the whole venue into complete darkness. Jake gasps instead then, his heart stopping for a full second, and it seems like everyone around him is doing the same, as silence fills the room and realisation hits them all in the same wave: the show's about to begin.

It doesn't last long, though, since soon enough there's noise again, louder than before, some deafening cheers and _Tay-lor, Tay-lor, Tay-lor_ chanted in unison and hyping her up to come on stage. Amy hears more than watches her husband yell his happiness and impatience for the concert to start in an almost manic way at the top of his lungs along with the crowd, and though she's not quite as excited as the rest of the fans here about the event – she's mainly doing this for Jake –, she soon finds herself joining in, the man's enthusiasm quite contagious, smiling when he turns around and stares at her, his sparkling eyes and bright grin enough to light up the entire dark room.

"Happy birthday, babe," she pulls herself closer to him so that he can hear her before the artist eventually appears in front of them and he'll be too caught up in the moment to pay attention to anything else than the stage. As an answer, he searches for her hand, squeezing gently between his knuckles when he finds it.

"Thank you for doing this. I love you."

After that, Jake leans over to press a soft peck on his wife's lips, and for lack of seeing it – though she's starting to get used to the surrounding darkness, able to make out his figure next to her now – she can feel his beam through his kiss, matching her own. They linger into it for a few more seconds, not caring about the packed crowd around as they can't (and won't, anyway, with their eyes stuck in front of them towards the stage not to miss Taylor's entrance) notice them until they're interrupted by some light coming back little by little, announcing the artist's upcoming arrival.

"And I love you too, Taylor!" he surprises Amy by suddenly drawing himself away from their embrace, putting his whole attention back on the stage when the singer eventually comes in.

A light chuckle escapes the sergeant's throat as she shakes her head and watches the man next to her scream the lyrics of the song Taylor Swift immediately started singing, his body moving in rhythm with the music, and her heart warms up in her chest at the sight of her happy, thrilled husband.

(She's a bit ashamed when later that night, while curled up in bed once the concert is over, Jake rambles about his favourite artist's amazing performances and her wonderful staging of the show and asks Amy what she liked best about it, because the truth is, for the whole time she couldn't take her eyes off of _him_.

 _He_ was her best part of the night – seeing how joyful her gift made him.)


	56. Newborn Baby

**Another prompt out of The Good Place's frozen yogurts flavours prompts list someone asked for.**

* * *

While curled up in bed with Amy, his whole body pressed onto hers with their legs entangled together and his hands encircling her waist, taking her in a tight embrace as there's not much space available in the little hospital bed originally made for one they're currently lying in, Jake is suddenly startled up by the sound of a baby crying. A quick glance at his wife's unmoving form against him and closed eyes when he opens his makes him realise she didn't hear their newborn daughter's call, so he slowly, ever so carefully draws himself from her, leaving the bed to head towards the crib where their baby was silently sleeping until now, when she seems very awake and very _sad_ all of a sudden.

He stands next to her, studying her for a second before he reaches to her and gently rubs her belly with a warm, though sleepy smile forming on his face.

"You hungry?" he asks, as if she's going to answer him, telling him what's wrong with her, before he turns around and looks at the woman still deep asleep in the bed, so exhausted she doesn't even flinch at the infant's cries. He watches her quiet, sleeping form for a little longer before putting his attention back on the girl.

Ever so carefully, he takes her out of the crib and into his arms, rocking her back and forth while walking around the room, praying this will be enough to calm her down – he would feel bad waking Amy up when she's finally getting some rest.

She deserves it, after the hours of labour she's been through.

"Shh, everything's fine, Daddy's here," Jake starts talking to the baby in a soothing voice, making sure he keeps it low enough not to disturb his wife. "Can you wait a little longer? Mommy needs her sleep," he explains, pointing towards her. "You know, she worked hard to bring you into the world today."

As he speaks, the newborn's father takes a sit back on a chair next to the bed, looking at Amy with a loving, amazed beam lighting up his own tired features. "I understand, though. You'd like to have her taking care of you right now. I mean, she's the best – you'll quickly realise how lucky you are to have such a mom. I would know that, because every day I'm reminding myself how lucky I am to call her my _wife_. And now have her as the mother of my _baby_. Of you."

Little by little, Jake's quiet voice and rocking seem to calm the infant down, who now watches him with her big brown eyes wide open, her cries almost muffled out as she listens to him. He leans over then, placing a soft kiss on top of his new daughter's head. "See? I knew we could do it, together. For your mom."

When he looks up though, he's met with the woman's gaze stuck on the both of them, a grin lighting up her face, and a single, happy tear rolling on her cheek.

"How long have you been awake?" her husband asks her in surprise.

"Long enough to realise how lucky _I_ am to have you as the father of my baby. Though I never doubted for a second that you'd be so great," the young mother replies, heart warming up in her chest at the declaration she just witnessed, and Jake simply smiles in return. "Is she hungry?" She quickly becomes serious again, nodding towards their daughter, who's now gone completely silent.

The detective looks down at her, at how her little hand curls around his finger, listening to her parents' voice, and he shakes his head. "Nope," he puts his eyes back on his wife with a reassuring smile. "She just wanted attention, it seems." Then, with that, he stands up and takes his place back on the bed next to Amy, his free hand encircling her waist as soon as he's sat down while she starts rubbing the infant's belly, with her whole attention put on her.

"Urgh," she chuckles. "She's so much like you already."

For only answer, Jake lets out a light laugh before he kisses his wife's temple and lays his head in the crook of her neck, both parents watching their newborn baby starting to fall back asleep in her father's arms with pure bliss.


	57. Baby Kittens

**For more backstory about Peanut the Cat, read "Of Peanuts and Missing Boyfriends" first, though it's not essential for** **understanding this particular story.**

 **This is still a prompt from The Good Place's frozen** **yogurts flavours prompts list.**

* * *

"I thought you said it was a male."

"Yeah, well, that's what it looked like when I took him in, but obviously I must have been mistaken. It's not like I check our cat's genitals every day."

"Clearly, you should've."

Amy doesn't bother answering her fiancé's comment, simply rolling her eyes as she opens her car's door and takes a seat on the conductor's side while Jake finds his own next to her, the cat the woman rescued a few months back locked in a cage carefully put on his lap on their way out of the vet's office after an emergency checkup – Peanut was acting weird, lately. And, though he reassured them about it being perfectly well and healthy, he also gave them some surprising news: first, that their 'little boy' is, in fact, a _lady_ , and second… that's she's pregnant. With actual _babies_ , expected to come in the next weeks.

Something the newly-engaged couple really doesn't need, especially now that they have a wedding to take care of, on top of everything else in their lives.

"You couldn't keep it in your pants, huh?" Jake looks down at the cat when he's all settled in the vehicle, talking to her in a blaming tone and glare that make his fiancée laugh, if only for a second, before she falls all serious again.

"What are we gonna do?" She sighs and shoots a worried glance at her partner as she speaks. "We don't have the time or space for this."

"We're gonna be just fine." He offers her a reassuring smile, then draws one of his hands away from the cage to lay it on Amy's thigh, squeezing gently. "You heard what the vet said. They're only three in there – it could have been much worse. It's just for a few months, I'm sure we'll easily find them a home after that. Like Charles or Terry. There's no way Charles will say no to adopt one of our cat's babies, and we'll just have to make sure Terry's daughters meet them, and they'll do all the convincing work for us. And… maybe we could keep the last one?" Jake tries, looking at the woman beside him with a grin and pleading face.

"Jake…" she warns – they can't start thinking like this, otherwise they'll end up keeping them _all_ , she knows, which is out of the question. She can't help a chuckle from escaping her throat at his silliness when she lets out his name, though.

"Sorry babe, you know I had to try." He doesn't seem apologetic at all when he goes on, "The point is, we'll be just fine," he repeats his very first words. "Okay?"

"Okay," she nods with a small smile.

* * *

When they head to work together the next morning, Jake barely waits until Amy and he are out of the elevator and inside the bullpen to shout at the attention of their colleagues, "Gather around, squad, we have an announcement to make!"

Everyone turns around to look at them with curious eyes. "We're having a baby!" the detective doesn't wait any longer to say it, a grin lighting up his features as he speaks. "Well, three babies actually. And we're counting on you to take them in when they're old enough to be separated from their mother."

Their friends' curiosity turns into shock when they hear the news, and Charles simply collapses from his chair to the floor at these new pieces of information – clearly, this is too much for him to handle.

"WHAT?!" Terry is the first one to speak again after a silent pause.

Amy shakes her head, turning to her boyfriend and shooting him a dark glare. "I told you not to say it like that," she complains before she puts her whole attention back on the rest of their squad, who are now waiting for her to further explain herself. "What Jake means is that _our cat_ is pregnant with three kittens, and they'll need a home when they're weaned, that's all."

"Oh." Charles, who apparently came back from his fainting, seems disappointed that his favourite couple isn't expecting real children, until excitement suddenly hits him again, remembering both of his friends' last words. "But yes, Jakey, I'll take one of your babies," he immediately agrees to their request.

" _Told you_ ," the man silently but proudly mouths to his fiancée, who simply rolls her eyes through her already pouting face, a little disgusted by their colleague's choice of words. She doesn't have the time to correct him, though, because Rosa suddenly joins in the conversation.

"Wasn't he supposed to be a male?" she asks, a little confused.

"Well, I might have been mistaken…" Amy shamefully acknowledges. "But she was young when I took her in, and it's hard to tell when they're young!" she tries to defend herself when the other detectives start making fun of her mistake.

"And it's not like she checks our cat's genitals every day," Jake backs her up, re-using the excuse she told him the previous day. He gives her a knowing beam as he lets the words out, and she can't help but offer him a warm, touched smile back.

It takes some more time for conversations about this topic to eventually die, and mostly for Charles to shut up about how he thinks this situation finally is such a blessing for them, allowing the couple to have a first experience at 'parenting.' They try (in vain) to make him leave them alone with this all day but the truth is, when a few weeks later, the kittens are finally born and the two fiancés are curled up in bed watching their mother licking them to clean them out and get to know them after a long and painful labour they even had to help happen in the middle of the night because of some complications with the last kitten, all Amy can think of is the moment when they'll be welcoming an actual child into this world.

 _Their_ own child, into _their_ own world.

"I can't wait to have real babies with you," she doesn't wait to tell Jake in a whisper as she lets her head rest on the crook of his neck, and he kisses her temple in return.

"We'll definitely be the best parents."

(In the end, they _do_ end up keeping the one kitten they saved, already too fond of it to let it go elsewhere, while Charles and Terry promise to take great care of the other two – everything turning out just _fine_ indeed.)


	58. Learning to Tie Your Shoes

**Written for** ** _ohpineapple_** **on Tumblr – part of The Good Place's frozen yogurts flavours prompt list. Young!Peraltiago AU.**

* * *

"Your laces are undone." Amy suddenly stops in what she was doing and points at Jake's right foot, showing him what she's talking about. The young boy follows her gaze, then shrugs when he looks back up at her, not seeming bothered by it.

"That's okay," he replies before he concentrates right back on the game they're playing, but his friend doesn't seem pleased with his laid-back attitude and answer.

"You should redo them, otherwise you might step on it and fall." She glares at him. Her voice sounds more serious this time, almost bossy even, her little arms crossed over her chest. Jake knows the girl enough to know she's stubborn and won't let him get away with this without an explanation. He sighs, defeated.

"I don't… I can't," he stutters in a low voice, almost inaudible, unable to meet Amy's eyes as he loses all self-confidence and feels ashamed of the situation, starting to nervously play with his hands. She frowns, staring at him – she doesn't quite understand what's going on with him.

"Why…" She wants to ask, but suddenly realisation hits her. "You don't know how to tie your shoes, do you?" she wonders instead. There's no hint of mockery in her voice – it's just a plain, curious question. The boy tries and looks back up at her then, and finds himself face to face with a smiling Amy – not a teasing grin, though; it's something genuine, which invites him to be honest with his answer.

"No," he acknowledges with a shake of his head. He waits for a second, holding his breath as he studies the girl's face, so sure that if she didn't react at first, she will now burst into laughter at his confession – he's almost 8, after all, and all of the children his age have known how to tie their shoes for a while already; even _younger_ ones, just like Amy –, but nothing happens. She remains silent. Despite this, he still feels the urge to explain himself. "It's my first pair of laced shoes. Dad offered them to me last time he came home, but he left again before he taught me how to lace them. And mom's too busy."

The girl's heart tightens in her chest hearing this, feeling bad for her friend, but she doesn't make any comment. Instead, she thinks for a second before her face suddenly lits up and she starts smiling. Jake watches her in confusion when she squats right next to him without a warning, then looks back up at him.

"Do you want me to teach you?"

There's an excited spark in her eyes as she speaks about helping her friend that makes all the shame the boy may have felt vanish at once, and a beam of his own is brightening his features when he agrees to her request with a nod. She doesn't wait any longer to show him the way then, all the while describing each step out loud for him to better understand what she's actually doing.

Jake watches in complete silence while she moves her hands over his shoes, more concentrated than he's ever been in his entire life as he listens to her words, even participating in the process by asking some questions – he wants to do good; he wants to make her _proud_. Amy is thrilled to answer to any one of them with the more details possible and, after a few times tying and untying her friend's shoes, she finally draws herself from him, leaving them untied.

"Your turn," she kindly invites him to try and do the same as she just showed him so that he can put her lesson into actual practice.

He's hesitant at first, not sure he'll manage to do half as good a job as she did, but a quick glance at the reassuring smile she's shooting at him is all it takes for the boy to lean over and do his best to imitate her friend's gesture. Obviously, it takes him several times trying and failing, but after a while, he finally gets it.

" _I did it!"_ Jake shouts and grins as he happily looks back up at Amy, proudly showing her his now tied shoes and, though it's far from being a perfect tie, she beams in return – she has to admit it's a good start, after all. Plus she wouldn't dare to crush her friend's joy; seeing him like this actually warms her heart. She feels like a proud teacher. "Thank you," he kisses her cheek in a sudden rush of boldness, and when he draws himself from her only a second later, he can see she's blushing, caught off guard by this sudden sweet gesture.

(He's very much blushing too.)

* * *

"Mommy's the one who taught you how to do it?" Sarah asks as she watches her father showing her how to tie her shoes while sharing his anecdote with her.

"Yes. The best teacher I could have ever asked for," Jake heartedly replies.

This answer intrigues the little girl, curious about her parents' story. "How long have you known each other?" The man looks up at her then, stopping in his movements for a minute. He turns to shoot a quick, loving glance at his wife, who's watching her two loves from afar with a warm smile, sitting on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate in one hand, the other tenderly rubbing her huge 8-month pregnant belly.

"She's been my best friend since we were five."

Amy's beam only grows wider at his words, bliss taking over her whole core when her husband puts his attention back on their daughter after a last knowing share of gaze and goes on teaching her how to tie her shoes with the same precision _she_ did with him all those years ago. It's kind of mindblowing, thinking about this moment again, and how this goofy friend from school, as time went by, turned into the absolute most important person in her life.

The father of her child – soon-to-be child _ren_.


	59. The Perfect High Five

"Ana, if you don't come and put your scarf and beanie _right now_ , we won't be able to pick daddy up at work!" Amy's threatening voice rises up into the air, over her daughter's own laughter currently filling the room as she's excitedly running around the house. Her warning seems to work, since only a minute later, the 5-year old girl appears in front of her, grabbing the clothes her mother was holding in her hands and hastily putting them on her head and around her neck.

She's done getting dressed in record-time, turning back to look at her mother with a proud grin that shows her small dimples and newly-missing teeth – something resembling a lot Jake's own smile (minus the missing teeth, of course – though he _did_ lose one of his once), Amy can't help but think. "Look, mommy, I'm ready, we can go!" She squirms, unable to remain still, obviously very impatient to leave the house and meet with her father after a long day away from him.

The woman lets out a heartful laugh at the sight of her child – she's nothing _near_ ready, unfortunately, despite her indeed putting her clothes on like she was asked to. Her beanie is put all upside down, already falling on one side, leaving her right ear only covered by her long, dark curls, and her scarf is only loosely tied too. Her mother approaches her and squats in front of the little girl to rearrange them over her body. She then looks back up at her with a smile and blows a quick peck on the top of her head. "Here." She takes a short moment to contemplate her work before she finally stands up. " _Now_ we're ready."

She offers Ana her hand, that the child immediately takes in hers, curling her small fingers around Amy's. They head out the doorway and towards the parked car then. The ride to the ninety-ninth precinct is filled with the young girl's comments, unable to keep quiet, even for just a minute. After all, she _loves_ it when her parents take her to visit their workplace (where they met for the first time, too, she knows the story well); loves everyone there, all her work-aunts and uncles and how they take care of her and always show her cool stuff.

What she loves most, though, along with playing with all the toys placed on Jake's desk of course (which have strangely doubled in number since her birth), has to be hanging out in Holt's office with her 'grampa Ray.'

When they finally enter the bullpen, the one man they're looking for isn't here. Charles is the one welcoming them in a warm, almost teary embrace at the sight of the little girl and her mother ( _"l_ _ook who's here – my beautiful little half-Jake!"_ _"urgh,_ _Uncle Charles, stop calling me that!"_ ) before informing them that their detective is not here but still on the field. This is how they find themselves, upon Ana's request, knocking on Holt's door instead.

"Grampa Ray!" The child barely waits for him to answer their call to rush into the office and jump straight onto his lap, greeting him with a tight, loving hug, to which he timidly answers. He tries to hide it as much as he can, but Amy notices the smile forming on his face as he holds the child close nonetheless, and her heart instantly warms up in her chest seeing two of her favourite people sharing this sweet moment together.

No matter what he may assure, Raymond is completely head over heels for his goddaughter.

Eventually, they part from their embrace, but Ana shows no intention of moving from his lap even after that. He keeps her there without question, simply looking back up at her mother to greet her as well. After explaining what they're doing here, Amy and her mentor engage in conversations, the woman updating him on her recent promotion from being sergeant of the uniformed officers to managing detectives now, another step towards her lifelong goal.

* * *

First thing Jake notices when he comes back from the field, finally ready to go home to his family, is his wife's purse laid on his desk. He turns around, frowning in surprise – she's not supposed to be here but in their house, taking care of their daughter on the girl's holidays and her day off –, but as he scans the room in search of Amy, he's met with an empty bullpen; it seems like everyone has left already, and there's no sign of the woman nowhere near. The only still lively place looks to be Holt's office, with the lights still on, that's why he heads over there, hoping he'll know where she is.

What he sees when he opens the door after being invited to makes him suddenly stop in his tracks, a true beam lighting up his features at the sight of his little girl sitting on his "work dad" lap and currently playing with whatever she found on his desk while her mother is sitting in front of him, talking. Ana looks up from her game when she hears the creaking sound of the door opening and her face brightens as well when she recognises who just came in.

"Daddy!" she exclaims as she unceremoniously jumps off the other man's lap and in Jake's arms instead, curling her small arms around his neck when he squats to meet her height and pick her, tightening his embrace around her back as he stands back up.

"How's my favourite girl doing?" The detective draws himself a little bit away from his daughter so that he can see her fully, grinning widely as he speaks.

"I missed you," she admits with a sad pout. She raises a hand to gently poke his cheek with her finger, her smile back within a second before she goes on. "So mommy said we could come and bring you home." Her eyes are shining as she watches him and, hearing her words, Jake's own beam softens.

He missed her too – a lot. Always does when he's away from her, even for just a few hours of work. If it were up to him, he'd never leave his house and her.

( _Them_ , with Amy.)

Thinking about his wife makes him search for her gaze behind the girl's shoulder, offering her a tender smile when their eyes finally meet as she turned around and is now watching the two members of her family interact together from her seat, her heart so full in her chest. He comes closer, Ana still comfortably settled in his arms and puts his free hand on his wife's shoulder, kissing her hair as a tender 'hello.'

"Well, I won't keep you there any longer." Holt suddenly hawks, breaking the moment between the family, reminding them where they are and who they are with. "Go home, Peralta, the day's over."

"Thank you, Sir." The detective nods, and as she quickly stands up to follow him out, Amy blushes, a little ashamed of acting in such an intimate way in front of her former captain.

But, before they have the chance to pass the office's door, Ana asks to be released from her father's arms. Once put back on the ground, she goes straight towards the older man and offers him her hand, exchanging a serious look with him. Her parents curiously watch her do from afar, a small, soft smile lighting up their features, pretty sure she's asking him for a handshake.

"Bye, grampa Ray!" she exclaims and, right on cue, he gently hits her small palm with his bigger one in a knowing gesture. After that follows a number of elaborate, though perfectly synchronised movements between them – their very own, personalised high five, the other two soon realise; something they must have worked on for a long time to make it look that good – and still, it's the first time Jake and Amy are witnessing it.

"Oh my God, it's the perfect high five!" the little girl's father gasps in a whisper, his eyes glued on her and Holt's movements while his hand reaches to grasp his wife's arm, watching them do in shock and awe, barely believing it, feeling both proud and touched by such a scene at the same time.

(Next to him, Amy is pretty much the same mess – nothing can make her happier than seeing her daughter and mentor share a bonding moment – except maybe the sight of her _husband_ and daughter sharing a bonding moment together as well.)


	60. Baby Laughter

**Another prompt from the same old prompt list, for _ohpineapple_ on Tumblr again.**

* * *

Her name is Ana Santiago Peralta (he's the one who insisted she takes her mother's name first, because _you're the one who kept her in there for all these months, babe, you deserve the reward!_ ) – 5 lbs., 9 oz., 18.8 inches and a few strands of raven hair already visible on top of her little baby head when she first joins this Earth on a fine June afternoon, 3 weeks early but perfectly healthy, too impatient to meet her parents to wait any longer.

Her name is Ana Santiago Peralta, and she's the most precious thing Jake and Amy get to lay their eyes on – they fall in love with her the very instant the nurse puts her in the woman's arms after 16 hours of tiring, painful labour, telling them it's a girl through the newborn's cries, and her mother sheds a happy tear when she points to her face to gently, ever so softly, skim at her tiny, pink, delicate cheek, her eyes never leaving her form and her husband fully crying next to her as he watches the scene in complete awe. This is their _daughter_ he's looking at.

" _Welcome to the family, pal."_

She's a little older than three months when Jake manages to come back home early in the afternoon after a rather uneventful day at work, and all he wants – all he could think about all day – _every_ day since his paternity leave ended – is to hold his baby close and kiss his wife. He finds them sitting on the couch when he enters the apartment, Amy holding their daughter in such a way they're facing each other, her hands carefully clenched under Ana's arms to keep her balanced while her little onesie pyjamas-covered feet are resting on the woman's lap. All of the baby's attention is set on her mother while she talks to her, a huge grin lighting her still tired face seeing what the sound of her voice does to the infant – the way she never stops looking at her, somehow captivated.

The detective pauses in his tracks for a short second, taking in the sight with a beam of his own, his heart filling with pure bliss in his chest. It's for moments like these he's grateful his captain understands his need of being home and lets him quit the precinct early during the calm days. He quickly joins his family, though, unable to remain only a spectator of the scene for too long. Arriving from behind Amy, he puts a hand on his wife's shoulder to let her know he's here, squeezing gently there before he blows a small kiss in her messy hair then draws his whole attention on Ana, with his face suddenly appearing beside her mother's.

He's smiling broadly when he reaches to poke her with his free hand, leaving it there to softly tickle her belly. "Hi, baby!" he says and his daughter squirms at his touch and the surprising new head that came out of nowhere. Her stare switches from the woman holding her to her father and, without a warning, she lets out a new, never-heard-before happy sound when she recognises him.

Jake's eyes grow bigger as he turns around to exchange a glance with Amy. "Did I just make her laugh?" he asks, a little puzzled, his heart starting to race fast in his chest at the simple thought of it. He then looks back at the infant. "Did _that_ make you laugh?" he repeats, tickling her belly a little more before disappearing then reappearing from behind his wife again like he just did.

This time, when Ana opens her mouth again, the sound lasts longer, allowing it to become clearer – and it's _clear_ that sound's a laugh indeed.

"Babe, I'm making our daughter laugh!"

Jake seems so astonished and touched by the fact, unable to stop his silly movements and own bursts of laughter every time his daughter does now that he found how to trigger their baby, Amy doesn't know what makes her laugh too the most: him, or Ana's adorable, become uncontrollable giggles.

Probably a mix of the two.

What she's sure of, though, at that moment (has been for long already), is that she loves them both so, _so_ much, and that she'll hold this memory dear in her heart forever, always remembering the sound of her daughter's first laugh, accompanied by her husband's and her own – it's actual music to her ears.

(Her name is Ana Peralta Santiago, and making her laugh soon becomes her parents' favourite activity when they're all at home together, the happy sound filling their happy household with pure happiness.)


	61. Officiant Holt

**Set somewhere between 5x04 and 5x22 – Jake and Amy ask Holt to officiate their wedding.**

 ** _Guest_ : if you come back here, thanks for the fic suggestion! If it was a request, not sure I'll be able to do it, but I can always try :)**

* * *

"You need me for something, Detectives?"

Jake and Amy have been standing in front of their Captain's office for a good two minutes, arguing over whether or not now's the right time to bother him with their request in low whispers. And, though they tried to remain (and truly thought they were) discreet, it seems that Holt noticed them anyway, despite him never looking up from his paperwork even once or seeming bothered by the noise they could have made. Taking his question – that sounded more like an affirmation – as their cue to finally come and face him, the two fiancés enter the room after one last quick exchange of glances and a nod.

When they find themselves in front of their superior officer's desk and he eventually meets their eyes, he immediately sees how nervous they seem to be, from the way they never stop staring at one another, then back at him. Intrigued, he gives them his full attention, inviting them to start talking.

"Sir, you know how highly we both think of you," Amy's the one who takes the floor first, careful and serious as if she prepared what she's going to say for days (which she did). "We owe you a lot, both regarding our jobs and as individuals. You taught us so much since you joined the Nine-Nine, and _…_ "

"What do you want, Santiago?" Holt cuts her in the middle of her praises, not quite understanding why she would flood him with them right now. Plus, though her words are kind and rather heartwarming, he presently doesn't really have the time for it.

"What Amy wants to say is," Jake joins in then, gently curling his hand over his fiancée's wrist, offering her a reassuring, _'I got this, babe, don't worry'_ smile when she's speechless again, caught off guard, before going on. "Would you like to officiate our wedding? It would mean a lot to us if you were the one marrying us," he quickly adds to their case.

Their Captain keeps quiet for a second, and the couple starts wondering if he'll decline the offer, trying to read his always so emotionless face. They'd be devastated if he would – the man's a true inspiration to them, and the idea of having him officiate their wedding germed into their minds not long after Jake popped the question, obvious to them. They spent nights talking about it since, about when and how they should ask him. Until they finally did.

And now, they're waiting for his reply which, hopefully, eventually comes.

"I'd be happy to," he says, though, as always, there's no trace of happiness audible in his tone or visible on his face as he lets out the words.

On the other side, Jake and Amy's features instantly lit up with a grin, exchanging a knowing glance the minute they hear Holt's answer, taking in the _great_ news. They want to scream their joy, hug their superior, but know better than doing so. Instead, they try to remain professional when they look back at him. "Thank you so much, Captain," they both tell him in one same voice.

He simply nods in return. "Is that all? If so, you can dismiss." He politely invites them to leave when he sees them still not moving from in front of him.

They quickly do as they're asked after thanking him one last time, then once they're out of the office and heading back to their own desks, Amy can't keep it any longer, grabbing her fiancé's arm and looking at him with shining eyes. _"Holt's gonna marry us!"_ She squeals, and by her side, just as excited about the fact as she is, Jake offers her a broad, loving beam back.

(They can't see him, but as he watches them leave, Holt's lips curl up into a small smile too – he'd been waiting – _hoping_ – for this moment to happen ever since the proposal.)


	62. Honey, the Moon's Shining Bright for Us

**Jake and Amy on their way to their honeymoon, another crazy day to add to the list. Post-5x22.**

 ** _Nugget_ , if you see this: thank you so much for your kind review, it really means a lot you liked what you read!** **Hopefully you'll enjoy the next ones as well haha. And can't wait to hear what you thought of the rest, then :p**

* * *

 **Honey, the Moon's Shining Bright for Us Tonight**

 _"You're kidding me?!"_

Amy lets out a frustrated sigh as she stands in front of one of the departures boards in JFK's airport, her suitcase in one hand and Jake's travel bag she's keeping with her while he's out somewhere in search of some snacks hanging on her other shoulder. She's waiting for the flight she's been staring at for the past five minutes to finally show her which gate she and her new husband are supposed to go to for the boarding when suddenly, on the line of the "Santa Barbara" name of destination, a new word, written in red, shining letters appears at the far right end:

 _Cancelled._

Just like that, their flight has been _cancelled_ – what a way to start their honeymoon, she thinks in anger and desperation. This was supposed to be the beginning of a _relaxing_ week with the man she loves, celebrating their recent union and now, it looks like just another source of stress for the sergeant.

 _Will they ever get some rest, sometime?!_

"Hey, babe!" Jake appears by her side not long after, all dressed up in his vacation clothes already, with a pair of sunglasses put on top of his head and a broad smile lighting up his face – they're not there yet but in his mind, he's already on holidays, enjoying the beach and his wife for a whole seven days of just the two of them under the sun. He hands her one of the two chocolate bars he just bought; Amy barely looks at him when she takes it, her eyes still stuck on the board, piercing through it, as if she's hoping her intense glare will scare it and make it change its fate.

Needless to say, it doesn't.

"What's up?" her partner asks her then, his smile fading slightly and concern starting to build up in his core as he studies her and notices the frown between her brows. He can tell something's wrong but doesn't know what – she should be happy right now, only a few hours away from their dream destination.

(Well, not really their _dream_ one, but still better than what they were about to settle for after he teared up his $10.000 cheque a few weeks back and they were left with no money to spare on a honeymoon anymore.)

She eventually turns around to face him, sighing again when she lets out, "They cancelled our flight." She points to the line of their destination, where the red _cancelled_ is still very much there, and still very much shining, as if taunting her.

"That must be a mistake," is all Jake can let out first, gasping when his own eyes fixate on the word. "I'm sure there's some kind of explanation."

He's in complete denial – there's _no way_ this can be true.

Trying to be reassuring as he sees how nervous the news makes her, he takes his wife's hand in his, squeezing lightly and gently making her move away from the departures board. He scans the place around them for a second, until his gaze spots someone who seems to work at the airport.

"Let's ask him," he nods in direction of the man, hoping he'll be able to give more information about their supposedly cancelled flight. "Hello, good sir!" he enthusiastically greets him with a large grin once the couple reaches his side. "Could you please reassure my wife and tell us our flight's not really cancelled?"

"Where are you going?" the other simply asks in return.

"Santa Barbara."

He makes them wait for a few seconds in heavy silence as he searches for something on his tablet computer.

"Oh no, I'm sorry, but it _is_ cancelled indeed. There's a storm coming that prevents all planes to go west. I'm afraid you won't be able to leave before tomorrow morning at the very least…"

 _"What?!"_ both Jake and Amy exclaim in shock. They don't want to believe it.

"I'm sorry, that's the procedure."

The newlyweds leave him then after thanking him, though unable to hide their disappointment. They go find a seat on a chair now that they apparently have _hours_ left before their flight, and, as soon as she's settled, the woman puts her head in her hands, feeling completely defeated.

"Why do these things keep happening to us? Are we that unlucky?" She asks in complaint when she looks up and finds Jake's gaze next to her, who's gently rubbing her thigh, tracing small patterns with his thumb over her jeans in an attempt to calm her down a little.

First, it was their wedding that went wrong – before turning into the best night of her life, she does have to admit that – and now, their honeymoon is already starting on an off start as well. She should have known the moment the wife of one of her brothers offered to help save it when they learned about the detective's moral action that put an end to their long-awaited Parisian vacation – _"My aunt owns a little motel off the coast of Santa Barbara,"_ she said, _"I can have you a room for a good price there!"_ – and Jake father showed useful for once, using his job and relations to make them fly almost for free, that it couldn't have been that easy.

She should have known, that it wasn't her and her husband's style, to live a breezy existence – it's never been, from the beginning of their relationship.

 _(We've had a lot of crazy days.)_

He offers her a loving smile in return.

"Hey." He moves his hand from her thigh to her back, pulling her closer to him in an embrace. "At least we found each other," he looks at her with a knowing, amused beam. "I think that's the most luck I ever had in my whole life," he confesses, making Amy let out a small chuckle.

"Don't try to be cute about this."

"I know you love it when I'm cute about things." His grin turns even bigger, teasing her more, making his wife roll her eyes and shake her head despite the laugh that escapes her throat no matter how hard she tries to keep it in.

In the end, she doesn't even try to argue with him.

"Yeah, you're right," she agrees to his words with a smile of her own, her bad mood completely forgotten now, thanks to him. "I do like it. And I'm the luckiest for having found you too," she adds, not bothering that she might sound corny – she _does_ feel like the luckiest woman on earth, being married to _him_.

She leans over then, to meet her husband's lips in a quick, loving kiss.

"See? Everything's gonna be just fine," he tells her when they part, though still remain at a close distance from one another, staring into each other's eyes.

He takes a short pause before he goes on, amusement back on his eyes when he speaks again. "All that matters is that we're with the right people in such unpredictable moments, remember?" he quotes her words from a week prior she said during her wedding vows – words that have resonated in him ever since.

"And you, Jake Peralta, are the right person for me." Her heart warms up inside while she finishes his sentence and lets her hand rest on his chest.

He's right – together, they can handle _anything_.

* * *

"I can't believe we're spending the first night of our honeymoon at the airport."

It's been a few hours since Jake and Amy learned about their flight's cancellation and the night has just begun still. The woman's head is resting in the crook of her husband's neck, the couple trying (and failing at) finding a comfortable spot to sleep, and make the time go faster this way. There are water bottles and candy bars scattered all around them, courtesy of their flight's company to help calm all of the nervous, upset minds.

Suddenly, Amy draws herself away from her husband's body, giving up on getting some rest. Instead, she takes something out of the little suitcase she kept with her and puts it on her lap. By her side, the detective watches her do in silence, curious about what she's doing.

"We've missed on so much of our plans already." She sighs, pointing towards their honeymoon binder, opened at the 'Arrival Activities' page.

"Hey, that's okay." Jake tries to reassure her, offering a small, sleepy smile. "We'll still be able to do those tomorrow when we're finally there."

"And miss out on the 'Day 2' activities?! Better throw the whole binder away already then!"

She looks up at him with big, shocked eyes, and Jake knows he said something wrong – the exact opposite of the effect he expected with his words, obviously. He simply opens his arms then, silently inviting her to come into his embrace, and she gladly obliges. They remain like this, quiet and wrapped up in each other for a little while, the man gently stroking his wife's back and kissing her temple, feeling her ease against his side with each new second passing by in his warm arms, comforting him too in the meantime.

"Remember when the same thing happened to us on our flight back from L.A. and you single-handedly took care of bringing Holt home so that he could attend his meeting?" He eventually draws away slightly, so that he can see Amy's eyes, the memory of another cancelled flight a few months back suddenly hitting him. She watches him, and he can see her face soften at the thought, a smile brightening her features again.

"Yeah. That was pretty dope," she proudly answers with a nod as she remembers that day she saved by simply being herself after spending the past hours trying to be someone she clearly wasn't – and understood she didn't have to be; the people the closer to her loved her for who she was, high-strung personality and all.

" _So_ dope," Jake agrees with a grin. She truly astonished him, that day (though she does that every day, to be honest). "And now he's the new commissioner."

"Now he is."

There's a pause after that, during which both cops remain silent, lost in their own thoughts, until Jake speaks again. "So much change is coming at work." He reaches for the woman's left hand in front of him, curling their fingers together while absentmindedly playing with them, his gaze stuck on her shining wedding ring that perfectly matches his own.

"First you left our squad, now Holt won't be our Captain anymore…"

"… And you're married to the Nine-Nine's uniformed officers' Sergeant." She gently squeezes his hand, reminding him of the _best_ change of them all. Her words make him look up at her; she's staring at him with a huge beam.

He smiles back, as broadly as she is. "Hell yeah, I am. And I attempt on reminding them of this _all the time_ when we're back at work. That the best manager they'll ever have is my wife. All. The. Time," he jokes, which makes her chuckle.

"Shut up." She shakes her head.

It only makes her husband laugh more, until he suddenly stops, a thought suddenly occurring to his mind when his eyes lay on the still open binder on Amy's lap.

"You know what, I think I know how we can make up for our lost first night," he says, and this time he sounds really serious, taking the huge binger in his own hands. "Let me see what we're missing. Wow, you really went big on the sex tab for the first night." He comments as he reads what's written there before he watches her with an amused, knowing look.

There's a woman sitting next to them, who they thought had been dozing off for a long time now, who gives them a side-glare when she hears that. Amy warns him, then. "Forget it. I'm not having sex _anywhere_ in this airport."

In return, Jake only shrugs.

"Your loss. Let's see the rest, then."

He starts turning the pages again, scanning the binder and what's written inside in search of something they could do here as well – or at least replicate something similar to it –, until he finally finds it. "Oh, this one's cute," he points towards what caught his attention. "And actually a great idea: I already received fifteen messages from Charles asking me how the honeymoon is going."

Amy looks at the words, curious, reading over the part he's talking about –

 _Take a picture with a nice view to immortalise the first night of our honeymoon._

There's a side note accompanying it, which makes her understand Jake's mention of Charles and his intrusion into their lives.

 _(Send it to our parents – and Charles – to let them know we arrived in one piece and now is the time to leave us alone for the rest of the week.)_

"Let's find a nice view where to take the pic." Jake suddenly closes the binder before putting it away and standing up, making her (and several of their seat neighbours who were trying to sleep) startle with the unexpected noise. He offers her his hand to follow him and, when she's come back to her senses, she takes it in hers. They walk around the airport for a few minutes, until the detective spots something, gasping when his eyes lay on the perfect place.

"Look, there's a photo booth!" He points towards the engine, then urges Amy to come closer to look at the green-screen options. "Where would you like to go on this first night? Paris, San Francisco, Ibiza… Mars?!" His eyes grow bigger as he turns back to look at her, visibly excited by that last option.

"Ames, how nice a view Mars is for your binder, huh?" He raises his eyebrows in amusement.

 _"Very_ nice," she chuckles, playing along with him, her heart warming up in her chest at what the man's willing to do to make her happy. She might be his dream girl, but he's definitely her dream man as well…

"After you, ma'am." He pushes the curtains in a dramatic move to let her enter the booth first before he comes inside too and they sit on the stool, managing to both fit there, with Amy sitting on her husband's lap, in charge of the settings. They try to remain serious as they look at the small screen in front of them but soon end up laughing and goofing around, unable to stop taking pictures of themselves everywhere they can around the globe, making silly faces at the camera, or simply shamelessly making out, unseen from the outside world thanks to the curtains keeping them hidden inside the booth anyway.

"I love you so much," Amy whispers between two clichés, her hands framing the man's face, looking at him with literal hearts in her eyes – a sight matching his own – before she's suddenly startled by the flash of the camera, not expecting it.

She turns away towards it.

"I think we took enough of them?" She says with a smile when she regains some composure and Jake agrees, following her when she heads outside of the booth. They take some time to look at the pictures once they're all printed, mocking each other, then falling silent in front of the cutest ones – especially the one that caught them by surprise when they were gazing at each other –, until they eventually remember one of the main reasons why they took those pictures in the first place.

"Which one should we send?" Jake asks, and it doesn't take long for Amy to think and show him one.

"This one."

It's not her favourite, but it's basic enough that their parents and Charles won't tell it wasn't really taken at the place they're in – in this case, the beach under a sunset. It's still cute, though; they're both smiling broadly, showing off their matching wedding rings. She's not sure she wants to share her favourite one with the rest of the world anyway; would rather keep it for themselves.

"Looks perfect," Jake seems to agree with her, watching the cliché with a dreamy smile. He takes out his phone then, letting out a sigh when he sees the three new unread messages from Charles, but doesn't even read them when he simply starts writing him, as well as his and Amy's parents, back, taking a picture of the picture to add to the text –

 _Everything's fine here. See you in a week._

After it's done, he puts his phone back in his pocket and gives his partner his whole attention again. "So, what's next?"

He takes the binder out again and starts reading through it, in search of a new activity they could do.

For most of the night, the newlyweds try to come up with funny, inventive ways of making up for the lost plans of their binder, checking them all when they manage to do it. It really helps time go faster, and before they know it, while they're almost done with everything they were supposed to do on the first day of their honeymoon, the sun is rising up again over New York.

Amy is standing in front of one of the numerous huge windows that give her a true, beautiful view of the scene, with planes taking off or, on the contrary, coming back in the distance, smiling as she watches them do, when Jake suddenly comes next to her. Sensing his presence, she turns around and smiles at him before she frowns when she sees his hands full with two glasses.

"You wanted sunset and Piña Colada? What about sunrise and orange soda instead?" He offers her the drink with a beam, and her smile only grows bigger when she takes it – it was one of the rare plans they couldn't come up with an alternative to since they started their little game after the sun had already set but, as always, Jake's here to surprise her. They remain silent as they enjoy their beverage (something Amy would have never guessed she'd end up liking so much before she started dating Jake and he rubbed off on her with his habits) and the view, their free hand soon finding each other's while their gaze is fixed in front of them.

When finally, they're startled by a voice telling them that they'll soon be able to board on new a plane that will take them to their destination and they leave their spot in front of the window to wait with the other passengers in the forming queue, all Amy can think about is that this first night wasn't too bad after all.

On the contrary – it'd been the absolute best way of starting their honeymoon; _by having fun together_.


	63. Claustrophobia

Jake learns about Amy's claustrophobia the hard way.

It's a Tuesday morning, almost a year after she arrived at the Nine-Nine, and for the first time since that day, they're taking the elevator up to their bullpen together – usually when he comes in, she's already well seated at her desk and reading over some paperwork, or patiently waiting for their morning briefing to start in said briefing room.

But for some bizarre reason, today Jake is on time at work – and even early. He should have known then, the minute he opened his eyes wide awake almost an hour before his alarm was supposed to go off and unable to go back to sleep despite his several attempts, that something would go wrong during his morning.

(Though, in hindsight, wrong turned out pretty well in the end.)

"Hold the elevator, please!" A voice calls as the doors are about to close before him, and Jake quickly pushes the button to prevent the engine from leaving. He watches as Amy rushes inside then, thanking him between two heavy breaths, having run not to miss the elevator before she eventually looks up at him.

"Peralta?" she exclaims, recognising her colleague, and frowns in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

Clearly, she didn't expect to see him in there.

"Same thing as I've done for the past years: going to work," he jokingly answers – which makes her roll her eyes, not amused.

"No, I mean – what are you doing here now? It's not even 9 yet. I don't think I ever saw you arrive on time at work once since I'm here, and it's almost been a year."

"I know, it's quite impressive, huh?" Jake simply grins in return, feeling proud of himself, when it was obvious from Amy's tone she was judging him.

She sighs, defeated. She chooses to ignore his remark and not to reply with anything of her own. The ride up their bullpen is silent for a while then, with the two detectives standing next to each other in complete, somewhat awkward silence, eyes stuck in front of themselves and never exchanging even a glance once.

That is, until the elevator suddenly makes a strange, creaking noise followed by an uneven movement of the engine. While Jake doesn't seem too much disturbed, the woman instinctively comes and reaches for the first thing she can hold onto: his arm, squeezing hard on his bicep, startled by the unexpected move.

"Outch," he lets out in pain as he turns to face his colleague before letting his gaze fall on her fingers on him.

There's something about the way her hand curls around his arm, her knuckles starting to turn white with the hard pressure she exercises on his muscle, that weirdly turns him on, the pain not being as unbearable as he thought, but he quickly locks this thought deep inside his mind, never to think of again.

(To think of years later, when he finds himself in bed with that woman he once only saw as a slightly annoying colleague and turned into the love of his life.)

"Relax," he mocks her when he looks back up at her, meeting with wide-open, scared brown eyes. She immediately loosens her grip at his word, as if coming back from a trance and only now realising her move, and offers him a small apologetic smile in return. "It's super old – it does that all the time. Nothing to worry about."

He shrugs, but that explanation doesn't calm Amy down. Especially because, just a few seconds later, the sound happens again, and this time the elevator stops altogether.

"Is this something we shouldn't worry about either?" she asks, truly panicking this time – her voice hits a pitch higher than usual as she speaks –, though she still manages to restrain herself last minute from grabbing his arm again.

"I don't know," Jake acknowledges. Something shifts in her eyes as she stares at him, so he quickly adds, "But I'm sure we'll be fine, and it'll work again soon."

With that comment, he pushes the button to their floor once more, hoping it will make it move back up, but one second of waiting quickly turns into twenty and nothing happens. He then tries the emergency button to let someone know there are people stuck in there and get some help, but again, no one on the other end of the line picks up.

"Damn, just when I was going to be early!" he tries to crack a joke, which doesn't amuse his colleague. On the contrary, when he takes a deeper look at her, who hasn't said another word since her question right after the engine stopped, he notices she looks terrified, breathing loudly and shortly with her eyes fixed on the doors.

"I –… I can't stay in here…" She eventually speaks, though it's barely a whisper. Her statement sounds very final too, and more like saying her thoughts out loud than actually talking to the man standing next to her.

"Why? Nothing bad will happen if we're late, y'know. Technically, we're not even late, since we're already in the building," Jake teases her again – the only way he knows and can think of reaction right now, never having had to deal with this side of the usually strong and competitive Amy before –, but it still fails at making her at least smile.

"What?" The female detective finally turns around and watches him with her brows furrowed. It's clear she wasn't listening to him before, so caught up in her trance, she almost forgot she wasn't alone in there. His colleague carefully studies her. He doesn't understand what she's so upset – more like scared, even – about.

They're just stuck in an elevator, after all. It can happen to everyone. For sure someone will come and help them soon.

"Are you okay?" His voice is softer when he asks her.

Amy takes a deep breath, closing her eyes for a second to try and regain some composure before she locks them with his again. "Sorry, I'm just… very claustrophobic. Being stuck in there makes me freak out."

"Oh."

There's not a hint of amusement left in Jake's tone now, only concern. "Is there… something I can do to help?" he kindly offers before he adds, unable to keep the comment for himself, "Other than giving you my arm to crush, if possible." This time, though, the woman lets out a small, light chuckle, heart warming a little in her chest.

She didn't know her always-teasing (mostly her, it seemed, and this from not long after their first encounter), often childish colleague had a soft, caring spot in him. Too bad she's too close to a panic attack to be able to completely linger into it and appreciate it as she should.

"Sorry about that too," she apologises, meaning it. She then lets herself fall to the floor and looks up at him, taking his offer. "Can you… sit with me, please?"

Jake obliges immediately, taking a seat by her side, though making sure he leaves enough space between their bodies so that she wouldn't feel too oppressed – thankfully the elevator is big enough for them not to have to squeeze too close next to one another.

They remain silent at first, the male detective waiting for his colleague to lead the conversation as she wants to while Amy tries to even her breathing.

"You must think I'm stupid," she sighs after a while, her gaze lowered towards the floor, unable to meet his own. She doesn't like being seen as vulnerable like this, especially from this partner she's in a constant competition with, she who always tries to prove she's tough.

"Why?" Jake seems confused.

"Because of this. Me freaking out over us being stuck in an elevator. That's ridiculous, I know."

"Well, you're the one who saw me run away when I saw that bee turning around us the other day – that's ridiculous," the man laughs as an attempt to cheer her up – which it does since she looks up and smiles at him. "I mean, we all have fears," he goes on with his explanation. "That doesn't make you less of a badass. You're still the same cop who took a murderer down last week after you chased him down nine stairs. That was pretty dope."

Amy's smile grows wider, softer, as she fondly looks at her colleague. She really likes this new side of him he's letting show this morning, in the intimacy of this elevator.

"Thanks, Jake." It's not often she calls him by his first name, but right now, as they truly connect for the first time, she feels like he deserves it.

After that they keep chatting for a while, with Jake trying to distract her and make her forget where they are, sharing stories about their lives and attempting at making her laugh. Amy quickly understands that his voice and tales calm her down, feeling her anxiety attack cool down in her chest, concentrating on learning more about this man.

They couldn't tell how long they remain there, but eventually, without a warning, the elevator makes another sound and starts working again, startling the both of them, who were stuck deep in a conversation, arguing over some silly thing. On instinct, Amy reaches for Jake's hand, squeezing it between her own.

"Sorry," she quickly lets go of it when she realises her gesture, cheeks turning red in shamefulness.

"Don't be," the male detective reassures her with a gentle beam and, when he's back on his feet, offers her his hand again for her to grab. She takes it and stands up as well just before the doors open at their floor, and they find themselves face-to-face with the man who was probably in charge of repairing it as well as the rest of their squad.

When their colleagues ask them of what happened, and Charles's gaze curiously and suspiciously switches from one to the other, Amy's sure that Jake will blur it all out, sharing her fear with everyone in the room now that she doesn't feel oppressed anymore and he can mock her without feeling too bad about it.

It's too good an occasion for him to pass on, she thinks.

But, to much of her surprise, he doesn't, simply relaying the facts as they were, joking about his own condition. "The world wasn't ready for me to arrive early at work, it seems."

That's why, when the attention is drawn away from them and they're back at their desks, she watches him from behind her computer and smiles softly. "Thank you," she tells him and doesn't have to say more for him to understand what it's about. He only nods in return before putting his gaze back on his screen.

He can't help but add with a grin, though, not bothering to look back at her. "Don't think that means I won't bring that up again between us any chance I get, though."

She only lets out a chuckle at this – there's the man she knows.

(And truly appreciates, deep down.)


	64. Hot Bath

**5x20 Canon-divergence: instead of Rosa, it was Amy who found herself stuck in this active shooter situation.**

 **(Inspired by yet another TGP frozen yogurt flavors prompts no one asked for.)**

* * *

Amy comes back home to the smell of cleaned house and burnt dinner.

She doesn't really have the time to wonder too much about it, though, because as soon as she passes the front door of her apartment, she's immediately pulled back by a weight rushing onto her, hands cupping her face and lips finding her own, taking them prisoners.

The kiss is messy, desperate.

It's Jake's fingers coming to brush her cheeks before she even has the chance to make another step inside; it's her arms hooking around his back on instinct and searching for balance, gripping his skin over his shirt, taking him with her as she pulls him _close, closer, the closest_ she can to her chest.

It's her response to his assault, with just as fierce as him, barely breathing and yet feeling like she's finally able to breathe again.

It's making up for the lack of existing words that could cover what's on their minds at the end of this awful day they had to go through – and thus it's the sound of their pounding hearts filling the silence of their apartment, proof that they're alive and _well_. It's her being back home – back to _him_.

It's the world turning round again.

And, finally, it's one sentence whispered between two quiet sobs when they part, tears falling through shut eyes, foreheads still touching and fingers still brushing skin. "I was so afraid I might lose you today."

"I know. But it's over now. I'm here. I'm fine."

At his fiancée's words, Jake finally draws away, taking one, then two steps back so that he can get a full view of her. He remains quiet as he stares at her – more like _studies_ her –, in search of any possible injury, until he sees _it_ – just below her ear, a red spot standing out against her unusually pale and oh so tired face.

"You're hurt." It's a statement more than a question, and the worry is obvious in his raw voice, and even more so in his gestures, bringing his hand back up to her face, gentler this time, softly brushing beside the blooded strain with his thumb, his wet eyes unable to look away from it.

Until Amy forces him to, making him meet her gaze as she reaches for his hand, moving it off her and curling their fingers together instead.

"It's not mine," she tells him, reassuring, offering him a small smile – but it barely reaches her eyes. She doesn't say more, and Jake can read in her expression that she won't. She doesn't want to talk about it now – so he doesn't insist, simply letting out a relieved sigh as the words repeat in his head.

 _Not hers._

"I ran a bath for you," the detective suddenly lets out, not knowing what else to say and wanting to change his fiancée's mind from what she had to live through. She only frowns in return, so he goes on with his explanation. "I–… I needed to do something to keep me occupied while you were in there and I couldn't help, so I tried to come up with ideas of how I could make your day better otherwise. I thought a clean house and your favourite dinner would be a good start for when you're back home, but I–… I completely messed up the cooking part."

 _Hence the burnt smell,_ Amy thinks but doesn't reply with anything – only lets him talk.

"I did order your favourite takeout instead, though. And I ran a bath for you," he repeats his first words. "It's probably still warm, if you want." He looks nervous as he waits for her to react in any way. She still doesn't say a word at first, simply watches him in awe, tears starting to prickle back in her eyes as her heart clenches in her chest.

It's been a tough day for her, facing danger like she did, but there's no doubt _his_ was just as horrible, being left aside while his fiancée was running a huge risk.

"A bath sounds perfect." Her smile is bigger this time, and looks more real, when she answers him and lets him guide her towards the bathroom, her muscles relaxing at the simple thought of hot water skimming her skin and cleaning her out of the remnant of the day stuck on her skin – Jake thought right; _this_ is exactly was she needs right now.

This, and her fiancé – nothing more.

She doesn't spare any second before she takes off her sergeant uniform and goes inside the bath, breathing out a content sigh when her body hits the hot water, letting herself sink into it until only her head is out, the tips of her now loosened hair floating over her bare shoulders, eyes closed to better appreciate the feeling that's overwhelming her – it's really soothing.

Sensing Jake's gaze on her, she eventually opens back her eyes, watching him watch her. He hasn't moved an inch, debating with himself what he should do – leave her to enjoy her bath alone, or stay with her to keep her company. Truth is, he's so hesitant because he doesn't what _she_ would like best, after what she's been through.

He doesn't want to be away from her but at the same time, he doesn't want to force his presence onto her either.

"Come in with me." Amy helps him take a decision by inviting him to join her inside the bath, pulling her legs back to her chest and scooting over to leave him some space. He remains still for a little longer, until he finally obliges to her request, letting his own clothes fall onto the floor next to hers, then carefully stepping into the tub as well, sitting behind her, his own legs framing her form.

When he's settled comfortably enough, she brings herself back towards him, resting against his chest and relaxing into his embrace, closing her eyes again while his wet fingers gently come brushing the naked skin of her arms and he kisses the top of her head, making her pleasantly shiver. They keep quiet, simply enjoying the moment and the fact that they're back together for a while.

"Thank you. For everything." Amy eventually breaks it, opening her eyes once more and turning around to face her fiancé. He frowns in confusion as he stares back at her.

"I didn't do much. And I still managed to burn dinner."

She lets out a small chuckle at that, taking her hand out of the water to bring it to his face, gently cupping his cheek while she smiles at him. "But you tried. At this bath with you… it's actually all I needed after a day like this. This, and the fact that you didn't try to come and help me. I know how hard it must have been for you to stay here and do nothing."

This time, it's Jake's turn to bring out his hand, absentmindedly curling the wet tip of a strand of her raven hair between his fingers. "It was hell indeed." He doesn't try to hide it, not even a little. "And I almost gave up several times. But I know that's what you wanted me to do. Stay away. So I did."

"I love you." Amy only answers in return as she draws closer, her hand on his cheek finding a new place on the back of his neck while her lips tenderly meet his own, and his own fingers slide along her sides to find their rightful place at her waist under the water, tenderly skimming at the bare skin there while they share a kiss. It's a lot softer than their reunion one, but still as meaningful and full of a shared passion for the other.

When they part, and he watches her, their eyes lost in the other's, Jake finally asks her the question that's been burning his tongue from the moment she appeared in front of him, back in their apartment. "You're okay?"

She's been through quite a traumatic event, today, after all – he doesn't know exactly what she saw, or how close to danger she's been, but he will let her tell him in her own terms, when she feels like it.

Her mouth curls up in a loving beam when she answers him. "Yeah. With you, I'm always gonna be."


	65. Dancing Through Life

"Come on, babe! It's fun, you'll see."

Amy watches, rather sceptical, as her husband and doctor move in rhythm in front of her to the sound of music the latter put in the hospital room she's been occupying for awhile now, their eyes stuck on her and Jake's hands stretched in front of him and towards her, inviting her to join the dance. Her water broke already, and her contractions are close to one another, but she's still not dilated enough for her labour to start, hence the use of this method to try and speed it up.

She _knows_ it's a good, natural way of helping induce labour – at this point, she thinks she knows everything she has to know about pregnancy and giving birth, after spending months reading about the topic ever since she learned she was expecting – and she _did_ say she wanted her baby to get out naturally, but right now, while she sits on this tiny bed with her hands stroking her prominent, currently very hurtful stomach, she's not so sure she wants to ridicule herself like this anymore. She's never had a good sense of rhythm, and it's clearly not when she can't even see her feet anymore, hidden below her round belly, that she'll suddenly get better at it.

But then, seeing how hesitant she's being, Jake suddenly approaches her, taking both her hands in his while singing to her – _Come on Amy, dance with me to get out baby!_ – and she has no other choice than to stand up and follow his lead, sighing in disagreement only for the form while letting out a chuckle at his silly words.

Never letting go of his grip on her, he starts making her move with him, a huge grin lighting up his face as he happily spins her around the room to the sound of the music. Quickly then, Amy gets caught up in the game, her husband's joy contagious, a similar beam spreading across her own features, unable to retain a laugh when she thinks about the scene they must be showing right now.

They soon end up having so much fun together, they don't even see nor hear their doctor leave the room, telling the nurse in charge of the pregnant woman to let him know when it's time for him to do his work, seeing that Jake already takes great care of the 'dancing part' of the job and they don't need him presently, leaving them some privacy.

For a while the couple goes on moving around to the rhythm of catchy songs, until tiredness takes over Amy's body, her breaths loud and short. Jake quickly puts on a slower music then, before he gets back to his wife and immediately encircles her waist with his hands while her own find their rightful place behind his neck. Like this, they settle in a slow, gentle pace, with their foreheads touching and eyes closed to better appreciate the moment.

"Can you believe this is it? In a few hours now, we'll be three of us," the man dreamily whispers into the sergeant's ear, his heart pounding with bliss in his chest at the thought of it and a smile curling up the corners of his mouth as he tenderly skims her skin through her medical coat. They've never been closer to being parents than they are now, dancing around in this hospital room.

"Yeah," Amy simply answers, too overwhelmed with feelings to say more, playing with the few strands of hair on the back of her husband's neck, concentrating on keeping her breathing even and fight the increasing pain.

It doesn't take long after that before the method works and the doctor has to be called again, labour having started for real this time and that, a few hours later indeed, the couple welcomes a little girl into their family.

(They can't help but find it quite funny, when they learn with time that their daughter _loves_ dancing, always asking for her father to put on some music in their apartment and climbing on his feet, her tiny hands wrapped inside his own while Jake makes her spin around the room just like he did his mother to help her go out in front of a cheering Amy as she watches the pair in pure joy.)


	66. Johnny and Dora and Baby Make Three

**Just another pregnancy fic inspired by an ask sent to _fourdrinkamy_ on Tumblr.**

* * *

Sitting in front of Amy, the both of them having dinner at a restaurant, pretending to be other people on a date while undercover to bring down some perp, Jake gets a sense of déjà-vu.

They've already been in such a position, a few years back, when his partner and he became Johnny and Dora for a night, a newly-engaged couple coming to celebrate the joyous event at the place where they supposedly had their first date. They've already been in such a position several times, to be honest – acting like a couple to help their case and arrest yet another criminal.

The night they played Johnny and Dora remains the most iconic time of all for them, though, pushing them to acknowledge their feelings and get their relationship to another level, the start of something beautiful – their greatest love story.

But, despite the obvious similarities between their past mission and this one – they even brought their personas back to life, now freshly married after a (rather long) engagement period and celebrating their one-month union, for the sake of it –, some _crucial_ things have changed, ever since that 'date' they shared.

Indeed, what is different, now, is that Jake doesn't need to hesitate, when their criminal's girlfriend asks them about what made them realise they were 'the one' for each other – he can rant about how great his wife is without fear of sounding too suspicious to her ears that he's totally head over heels for her, because she already knows that and even _shares_ those same feelings towards him.

What is different, now, is that they don't have to come up with lame excuses, when the other woman wants to see their rings, because they're already proudly shining on their left ring fingers, in a matching form and golden colour.

What is different, now, is that they have real stories to tell, because what is different, now, is that they might be playing a game, but in the end, much like these two characters they invented, they're _really_ married too.

(Have been for more than a year, even, on their part.)

"Here, let's drink to your first-month anniversary, hoping for many more to come!" Their perp comes up to fill their glasses with the expensive champagne he bought for his own date when Jake and Amy are done relating Johnny and Dora's (their own) perfect honeymoon. The sergeant watches him do with her mouth half-open and eyes growing bigger, eyes stuck on the bottle of alcohol, suddenly feeling nervous.

Eventually, when he reaches her own glass, she stops him from pouring anything inside with a gesture of her hand. "Not me, I'm pregnant," she quickly finds an excuse not to have to drink anything.

She offers him an apologetic smile before turning her gaze towards Jake, who's watching her with confusion in his eyes. He doesn't say a thing, though – doesn't have the time to, anyway, since the criminal's girlfriend is soon to react to this new piece of information given to her. "Really?!" She squeals, apparently very excited for the couple. "Congratulations! Is it your first one?"

"Yes," Amy is the one who answers, her hand coming to cover her (still very flat) belly instinctively. "It's like… the gift we brought back for ourselves from our honeymoon," she jokes, but there's something in the way she exaggerates her laugh that sounds weird – stressed out, almost panicking –, which doesn't go unnoticed by her husband.

Nonetheless, not to blow up their cover with his concern, he plays that game she came up with (probably because she didn't want the alcohol to prevent her from doing her job right, he figured, especially knowing how spacey 1-drink Amy can be) and replies to all of the woman's questions – and she seems to have a lot, getting really invested in the couple's story, having a child of her own.

With every new sentence he lets out, sharing about the blessing of pregnancy and how a new addition to their family will change their lives for the better, the man can sense a new warmth taking over his heart.

He knows all of this is fake, that _Johnny and Dora_ are expecting, not _Jake and Amy_ but still, these baby talks, as if it were really happening to them, get to him quite easily.

(Deep in the back of his mind, he can't help but wish they were true too.)

"So… What's your take on the child's sex? Any intuition yet?"

The question is for the both of them, but from the way she stares at _him_ , it's clear the stranger wants his answer first. In front of him, Amy's gaze is piercing through his core as well, waiting for his reaction.

Of course, they had that kind of conversation in the past – numerous times, even –, coming to the conclusion that they will have children together someday, yes, but not right now, the both of them being too focused on their career for that. In their fantasy world, though, when picturing themselves with their progeny, they never shared their preferences about the sex of their very first child.

They always assumed they would end up having both anyways.

"I–… I don't know," he says then, caught off guard, and a bit disturbed by both women's eyes on him to think correctly.

His wife seems somehow disappointed by such a vague reply, her beam fading a little at the corners of her mouth – not for long, though, instantly brightening back up when it's her turn to share her opinion on the matter. "A girl." She doesn't hesitate for one second, as if she's thought about it a lot lately, not once leaving Jake's sight as she speaks.

"I mean, I don't know because… I don't care," he suddenly feels the urge to add to his first comment, shrugging and looking at his wife when he does so. "Whether we have a girl or a boy, I'll just be happy to have a child of our own. Y'know, a mini-us to love and take care of." Watching him back, Amy can feel her eyes start to water at his heartfelt confession.

 _He's gonna be the best dad ever,_ she's so sure of it, her fingers gently and discreetly brushing her stomach over her shirt, overwhelmed by the words she just heard.

Conversations go on for a little longer, until their perp decides it's time for him and his girlfriend to leave, abandoning their new encounter after congratulating them one more time on everything.

"Great job there, _mommy_. Perfect cover to stay professional and sober on the field," Jake teases his wife when they're all alone, and she simply offers him a small smile in return.

 _Yeah, just a cover…_ she thinks.

They wait for several minutes before following their criminal outside, where they eventually manage to arrest him a few streets down the restaurant, having gathered all the information they needed.

Once back at the precinct, Amy excuses herself as soon as they enter the building, asking her husband to take care of putting the man behind bars and start on the paperwork without her while she rushes away without even waiting for his answer after telling him she had 'some quick, important stuff to do first.' When fifteen minutes pass and she's still not coming back, the detective starts wondering what's happening.

He abandons his paperwork then, and goes straight to her floor, in search of some answers to her whereabouts. "Have you seen Sergeant Santiago?" He approaches one of her officers.

"She came by a few minutes ago. I think I saw her enter the archives room."

Jake frowns, a bit confused – what's in there she could need right now? –, but doesn't make any comment, simply thanks the man before going straight to the location. He catches her seated on one of the huge cardboard boxes stuck there, with her head hanging low, intently staring at something she's holding in one of her hands.

When she hears someone coming in, she quickly hides it away, then lets out a relieved sigh when she looks up and recognises who's there.

"Hi," the detective approaches her, meeting her level and looking at her with a smile while taking the hand lying on her lap in his. "What are you doing here?"

"I… was just trying to think of the best way of telling you the news," she confesses. Her eyes are drawn onto him, mysterious and shining, her fingers curling harder around what she's hiding behind her back.

"What news?" Jake doesn't seem to understand what's going on with her. "Is there something wrong?" He studies her carefully, worry starting to build up in his core.

"Quite the opposite." Amy is quick to reassure him, her smile turning into a true beam when she hands him what she was holding: a pregnancy test, showing in black, clear letters the word _**Pregnant**_.

Staring at it, the man by her side remains speechless for a while, processing the whole revelation, feeling his heart clench in his chest in pure joy with every new passing second. It only takes him a moment before his eyes are back on his wife, already filling with tears. "You are…?" He's unable to finish his sentence, too overwhelmed with feelings, his gaze switching from the woman's face to her stomach.

"I am," she confirms, sensing her own eyes starting to water too.

Jake doesn't need more words to pull her in a tight hug then, both their tears falling onto the other's shoulder while they hold onto each other, happier than they've ever been in their whole life in that instant. Eventually, the detective draws away, only to kiss her breathlessly, his hands coming to cup her face and thumbs brushing her wet cheeks, keeping his forehead resting on hers when they part.

"So, earlier at the restaurant…" He trails off, talking through his never-disappearing grin again after a while spent in comforting silence. "You weren't playing pretend?"

He feels her answer before he hears it, shaking her head against his, her own smile growing wider. "No. That was real," she tells him. "Well, I wasn't _sure_ yet since I only took the test when we came back, but… I had some doubts, yeah."

Jake lets out a content sigh after that, his chest filled with bliss. "We're gonna be parents…" he whispers in awe, still feeling like this is some kind of dream – a _perfect_ dream.

"We're gonna be parents," his wife confirms, just as much shaken up as he is.

They stay like this for quite some time, wrapped up in each other and enjoying the intimate moment until they have to let go – they're still on duty, after all. But, as they pass the door of the archives room hand-in-hand after standing up from their spot, before joining their colleagues, Jake stops in his tracks, turning to face Amy, his blissful grin turned malicious, daring even, now. "So, you bet it's gonna be a girl?"

He doesn't have to say more for her to understand where he's going with that, a matching expression popping up in her own eyes. "Yeah," she replies, holding her free hand in front of her.

"Okay, let's bet for a boy then." He shakes it between his own fingers, his playful gaze never leaving hers.

(In the end, _she_ wins, but Jake couldn't care less about that – he's too happy to welcome his little girl into the world, loving her so much already as he carefully holds her against his chest, to think about that silly bet they made months ago.)


	67. Let the Bells of the Nine-Nine Chime Out

**Title is a line from an episode of 'The Office.'**

* * *

 **Let the Bells of the Nine-Nine Chime Out Your Love**

 _ _"I got a lot to work– lot of work… Wha! Give me a half hour! Whoa!"__

x / x

It takes exactly 28 minutes and 9 seconds for Charles to get everything done.

28 minutes and 9 seconds during which he doesn't take one break, not even to breathe, running from one place to another in the middle of the usually calm precinct at such a late hour, gathering people together, making sure everything is __perfect__ for the most perfect couple. He already ruined one venue, he needs this new one to look absolutely stunning and make them forget about the awful day they had because of him.

His life depends on it.

He's going full-Nana Boyle on the poor beat cops he found on his way and hired for the task, he's well aware of that, yelling at them when he sees the chairs they're putting in front of the precinct aren't perfectly lined up and making them re-do everything from the start until it looks perfectly like what he has in mind, but right now he couldn't care less.

He couldn't care less if he makes some enemies tonight – he'll find a way to make up for them later, thanking them for their help and offering them some apology-food.

(Though, in truth, he thinks __they__ should thank him for allowing them to be part of putting together the most important wedding in America– nay, the whole world– who cares about the Royal Wedding anyways?)

He couldn't care less because, after all this time rooting for them from Day 1 of their meeting, witnessing their love story grow stronger each day, Jake and Amy are finally getting married.

And he needs it to be __perfect__.

He carefully watches as Officers Jones and Leroy tie some lights he found in the storage room from one building to another, enlightening the scene where soon enough both the future bride and groom will be standing face-to-face, exchanging their vows. His heart clenches in his chest at the simple thought of it, already knowing he'll be a sobbing mess when the moment happens.

As his eyes wander around the place, scanning it to make sure everything is going according to plan and no one is messing with anything, he notices something's missing somewhere; the paved floor in-between the two rows of chairs, where Amy will walk down to the podium where Jake and Holt will be waiting for her to join them and let the ceremony start, feels too grey, too empty.

Not joyous enough for such an important event.

Quickly, he rushes back inside the building, and towards the evidence room, in search of something, __anything__ that could be used as a carpet, until he finds _it_. A pile of shredded paper, put away in a huge cardboard box should it be needed again someday, reminder of that Seamus Murphy case which threatened Kevin's (and later, Jake's and Holt's as well) lives a few months ago.

The flash of a scene suddenly comes back to his mind when he lays his gaze on it, and a smile spreads across his face at the memory.

He sees Jake's hand curling gently around his fiancée's hair when he's finally back at the precinct and greets her after yet another forced separation, taking away one of those remaining pieces of paper still stuck in there despite her change of clothes, an amused beam covering his features when he asks about it. He sees the same light expression in her own eyes and the heartfelt chuckle that escapes her lips when she explains everything to him.

He sees their hands reaching for their twin, fingers curling perfectly together, and hears the __I missed you__ and __I love you__.

He remembers all of this, and so many other small moments they shared inside this same precinct, under his and the rest of their squad's eyes. And now, they're getting __married__.

Wiping out a tear from his cheek, he takes the box into his arms and urges outside, fully emptying it in a perfect line going from the entrance of the building to the altar. Everything else has been put together already. Even Holt is there now, wearing his Captain uniform and waiting on his designated spot as the wedding officiant.

The detective takes a moment to look at the place one last time, then stares down at his watch with a content sigh.

 _ _28 minutes and 9 seconds.__ It took exactly 28 minutes and 9 seconds for Charles to get everything done, and now's the time to go search for Jake and Amy.

He climbs into the elevator, squealing, unable to remain still as he not so patiently waits for it to stop and open at the right floor, then doesn't spare one second when he finally runs out of the engine.

 _ _"It's wedding time!"__

He's feeling both very excited and very nervous when he opens the exit doors of the precinct, the main couple of the night on his feet, ready to show them his (and half of the night squad's) work – he truly wishes they'll like what he did with the little he had in the small amount of time he got to do it. He'll never forgive himself otherwise.

But then in his back, he hears an echoing surprised gasp, and it partially calms him down – he still needs confirmation that he did them right, though.

"I really hope you like it. If you don't, I will __kill myself__."

"Charles, it looks amazing."

"It's beautiful."

His friends' words instantly warm his heart, worry and guilt about ruining their day instantly flying away.

"How can I ever repay you?"

Charles doesn't need to think for a second to answer Amy's question, the thought always lingering somewhere in the back of his mind. "Get pregnant! Use your body to give the world more Jake!"

Really, he's not sure there's something he waits for more than the day the couple will announce they're expecting – it would be like his wildest dream coming true.

(Given how reacted to their engagement, though, he's a little afraid he might just burst completely when he'll hear the words __'I'm pregnant'__ coming from the newly-graded sergeant's mouth – still, it'll be worth it.)

After that, Jake takes him away to the front of the scene, where he's supposed to seat in the very front row not to miss anything from the ceremony. As soon as Mlepclaynos starts playing his music, and Amy slowly walks down the aisle to reach her very-soon-to-be husband, he can feel his eyes start to water and his heart fill with emotion. __This is it. The moment he rightly predicted eight years ago.__

He's never been happier to be right about something than he is about this.

The feeling clenching his chest doesn't leave him once throughout the whole ceremony. It becomes harder with every sentence the two let out to keep his excitement inside, especially when time comes for them to exchange their rings and, when Holt finally declares them married, he can't contain his happy squeal any longer.

 _Jake and Amy are married. America's dream couple has officially been united._

The only thing preventing him from fainting at the overwhelming thought is that he'd hate himself if he missed just one second of the event.

As the newlyweds go back down the aisle hand-in-hand, glowing in bliss and wearing the same grin on their faces, all of his friends and colleagues clapping for them, Charles suddenly takes his phone out of his pocket, searching for something inside of it. Through speakers, the sound of bells instantly come ringing around the venue, celebrating the couple's union and making them frown in surprise.

They both turn in his direction, but the man only smiles a knowing smile in return through his tears, now fully sobbing as he watches them move away.

He heard these wedding bells all those years ago when he witnessed Jake and Amy's first meeting, and now they're finally chiming __for realz__.

(Later at Shaw's, when he comes to congratulate them once again and takes them in his arms, full of emotions, the couple of the night doesn't have the heart to correct him when he tells them, "We did it, guys. We're married." They simply exchange a half-amused, half-disgusted look behind his back before tightening the embrace, grateful for their friend and how he saved their wedding.)


	68. Of Sunscreen and Ice Cream (And a Bet)

**To answer the latest _Guest(s?)_ reviews:**

 **\- Nope, we never heard Amy speak Spanish in the show – but we do know she speaks it, as she said in one episode :) (And we did hear her mother say one sentence in Spanish during the Thanksgiving episode of season 5 as well.)  
\- About Jake dying in my The Good Place AU: it's said in the story – he died while trying to fall off a roof _Die Hard_ -stylez (like in 4x18) but here it didn't work out and he fell on the ground (tbh I didn't want to go into the details about their deaths and focus more about their afterlife haha).  
\- Idk if your 'supernatural vampire AU' is a prompt but if it is, I'm sorry, I don't think that's the kind of stories I could write... though something like that probably does exist somewhere? I have no idea.**

 **Anyways, thanks for your reviews! :D**

* * *

As much as Amy loves her job (and she does – __a lot__ ), she really loves being on holidays as well; especially when they consist in spending some quality time with her husband and young daughter, doing nothing else than just rest by the pool of their hotel all morning, enjoying the bright weather and a good book, and occasionally joining the two most important people in her life into the water.

Usually, she wouldn't like this type of relaxing vacation too much – she's more the kind of person who plans a lot of activities to fill her trips away and not miss anything the place has to offer – but, being presently 8 months pregnant and her doctor having told her she needs to go easy on herself so that the baby wouldn't come out too soon, she doesn't really have a choice. She's well decided of making the most of her quiet holidays, always finding it better to remain lying in a deck chair watching Ana and her father playing around than staying in a bed at home, _alone_.

What she doesn't love, though, is to see them rush towards the pool the minute they're out of their clothes, both too impatient to go inside the water to wait for any more second.

"Aren't you guys forgetting something?" the woman asks with a shake of her head and a severe look on her face as she watches them run away. The sound of her voice in their backs doesn't go unnoticed, making the two immediately stop in their tracks. They exchange a quick glance, wearing a matching confused expression with their brows furrowed and half-open mouths before their turn back in her direction in a same, synch move. This makes Amy's own frown soften, until they're suddenly back at her side and pulling her in a tight embrace, covering her face in kisses and whispered __I love you__ s.

Then they draw away after just a few seconds and don't add anything else when they act like they're going to leave her side again, persuaded _this_ was what Amy meant with her words.

But it's not – and she's so startled by Jake and their daughter's sudden burst of love towards her, she almost doesn't have the time to say so before they rush back towards the pool. "Okay, that was nice, but not what I was talking about." She lets out a warm chuckle as she speaks, which turns into a real laughter when she sees their smiles turn into another same confused frown. There's truly not a doubt about Jake's being the father of the little girl – not only did she inherited his curly raven hair, she took a lot of his expressions and ways to react to things as well.

(Not that there was a doubt to have in the first place, though.)

"I was talking about putting some sunscreen on before you go into the pool." She takes out the small tube she brought with them as she further explains herself. Both concerned parties let out an annoying sigh at that, and Ana's the first one to complain with a pout on her face.

"But, mommy, we're going in the water!" The child tries to argue, soon backed up by her father.

"Yeah, __mommy__ , we don't need it right now – it's gonna melt."

Amy does her best to stay serious, rolling her eyes at her husband's comment, though she can't help but feel amused about the two members of her family being on the same page. "Jake," she shoots him a severe look – he's supposed to back __her__ up on this and not make things harder than they already are for their child to agree on putting on some sunscreen and wait before having fun in the pool. "You know that's not how it works, right?"

He gives up then, well aware deep inside that his wife is right, and that it's important Ana is protected from the sun. He pauses to think for a second before saying anything, in search of a way to make things easier to get their little girl to concede to their demand without creating a fuss – she can be quite impatient, sometimes –, until the idea eventually pops into his mind.

With a grin, he lowers himself to meet her daughter's level. "Hey, Anana, what do you think we all make a bet, huh?" He looks up at Amy, seeking her approval before going further, which she easily gives him with a bright smile of her own covering her face, her whole attention drawn onto him already, the competitive side of her having woken up in her core at the man's only use of the word 'bet.'

It's something that runs in the family, after all – a part of them their daughter clearly inherited as well, they discovered that soon enough.

(It helped them avoid a lot of tantrums in the past, to be honest, turning every possible boring task into such a game.)

"What's the prize?" The woman asks, curious.

Jake smiles at her before looking back down at the child. "First one done with having sunscreen put on their whole body gets an ice cream later? If I win, mommy buys me one but if you guys win, I'm buying both of you one. Deal?" He raises up his hand, waiting for Ana to clap it with hers. She doesn't think for long before doing it, her pouting face now completely shining with amusement, the beam curling up her features so bright, it shows her small dimples.

"Deal!" she excitedly replies, going to stand in front of her mother without any complaint this time, even rushing her to start covering her little body with the precious lotion when she sees her shaking hands with her husband and talk to him, challenging, a new glint lighting up her brown eyes.

"Good luck," Amy tells him. "I've mastered the art of putting sunscreen since I was 8. We're gonna crush you – I'm quick __and__ efficient. And remember: the winner is the one who gets their __whole__ body done."

Her smug grin is so huge now, it makes Jake realise something he didn't think about before making this new bet. "Wait, how am I supposed to do my back alone?"

"I don't know, son. You figure this out," the woman teases him, then finally puts her whole attention back on her daughter, who's getting impatient, unable to stand still. "Ready, Anana?"

"Yessss!" the girl is quick to exclaim, squealing even more when she hears the tube of sunscreen open in her back.

"Three, two, one, GO!" Amy counts when her husband has done the same with his own tube.

It only takes her a few minutes to finish covering her daughter's body with the creamy product – she's so quick even that, in the end, Jake doesn't even need to wonder about putting sunscreen on his back alone anymore, because he still has a few other uncovered parts of him he has to take care of first when Amy and Ana exchange a high five and start a (weird) victory dance together.

"I want chocolate, and vanilla, and strawberry– no, hazelnut, and–…" The child starts reciting flavours she'd like to get for her ice cream to her father when she's eventually calmed down and stopped moving around, not having forgotten about the prize that would be offered to the winner – or, in this case, winner _s_.

"Easy, tiger!" He cuts her off with a laugh. "First, you'll have to choose only one flavour. And second, we're not getting it right now anyway – it's too early."

Ana pouts in return, a little bit upset, but it doesn't remain long on her face, soon replaced with a malicious expression. "If I get two scoops, I can give you one." She wants to trade with him, playing with her hands as she speaks and looking at him with puppy eyes, bouncing on her feet, trying to get to him this way.

This time, it's Amy's turn to laugh, listening to the conversation from the side.

"You sneaky little girl." Her father smiles when he comes to ruffle the child's hair with his hand. "We'll see about that later, okay? In the meantime, how about you start playing while mommy puts sunscreen on my back and I put some on hers, and then we go into the water together, huh? But don't go too far – we need to always be able to see you."

Ana simply nods, stepping a few feet away, leaving her parents alone. For a short moment, they watch her without a word, smiling at the sight of their baby girl taking some toys out of her bag until Jake finally sits in front of his wife on her deck chair so that she can take care of him while he can still get an eye on their daughter.

"Hey, babe?" He asks after some time spent in silence, with him enjoying the feeling of Amy's hands expertly massaging his back. He sounds rather hesitant when he lets out the words.

"Hmm?" She only hums in return, too caught up in her work to truly say anything.

"Even if I lost the bet, you'll still share your ice cream with me, right? You won't leave me alone without nothing?"

His voice is full of concern, almost childish, even, which only makes the woman laugh, her palms going still and flat on his body.

"You've heard your daughter," she teases. "She'll share hers with you if you get her two scoops."

The detective laughs along with her, shaking his head in disbelief and mostly amusement. "What have we created?!" He falsely complains – his daughter really is the most precious thing he holds in his heart (with his wife, obviously). It's true she's a real phenomenon, though – but he shouldn't be surprised. She's part-him, part-Amy, after all.

They couldn't ask for less of her, then.

"And very soon there will be two of them," the woman dreamily answers, looking down at her prominent stomach for a second with a loving smile.

She can't see it from where she stands, but in front of her, a similar beam comes curling up the corners of Jake's mouth at the mention of a second baby growing inside his wife's belly. He doesn't reply with anything right away, until Amy is finally done with covering his back in the lotion and he can turn around, facing her huge stomach and blowing a light kiss on it on his way.

"There will be, yeah." He looks up at her with the brightest grin, completely glowing with happiness, to be able to live alongside his __dream girl__ and see their family only grow bigger.

She smiles back, getting lost in his shining eyes only for a second before immediately putting her whole attention back on their first daughter, who's still quietly playing with her toys, gently stroking his hair.

Eventually, they trade places, Jake going behind Amy so that he can quickly put some sunscreen on her back before Ana gets tired of waiting and he can take her into the pool with him after a last press of his lips against his wife's. "Let's go play in the water!" He grabs the girl on his way along with her water armbands, making her laugh heartedly as he tickles her while holding her.

Once alone, Amy finishes covering her body with sunscreen, her eyes never leaving sight of these two people she loves so much, only looking down when she starts rubbing her belly with her creamy hands. "I get why you'd like to come out early." She smiles when she starts talking at the life growing inside of her. "You want to meet them too, huh? They're truly the best, you'll see. I'm so lucky to have you all."

A kick answers her words, making her beam brighter.

Even when she's finally all done and ready, the woman doesn't go inside the water just yet, enjoying the view that Jake and Ana offer from afar, her child's laughter breaking into the air in front of her father's silliness while they play together – it's a good thing there's not many other people around them yet, with all the noise they make and the waves they create inside the pool.

Quickly though, she's interrupted in her contemplation and invited to tag along when her girl starts calling her. "Mommy, come in the water with us!" She smiles and waves at her mother, and the latter doesn't have the heart to refuse, despite the shiver running down her spine the second she puts a first foot inside – the temperature's still too cold for her.

"It's not cold anymore when you're inside," Ana tries to convince her, rushing her father to bring her closer to the woman so that she can grab her hand and make her follow her further down the pool.

Jake is soon to do the same, encircling her waist with his arm from her other side, making her shiver more at his wet, cool touch on her skin. He only shoots him an amused grin when she complains though, and the little family finally ends up all having fun together in the water, making the most of one of their last moments as the three of them before a fourth member makes her way inside of it.

(When later, Jake gets his girls their promised ice cream, even giving in and buying two scoops for his daughter, he doesn't have to ask for them to share their prize with him. Because after all, in the end, no matter the silly games they can engage in, they're all playing in the same team. The 'Santiago Peralta' team. And it's a pretty awesome one, if you ask them.

The best, even.)


	69. The Promise You Made

**Based on an idea by _sheetpiled_ on Tumblr (slightly altered, though): what if Jake and Gina made a strong bet in their young years and now Jake must name his kid something Gina chooses, and Gina decides something like Beyonce?**

* * *

From the corner of his eye, Jake can see his best friend stop Amy in her tracks and start excitedly talking to her on her way back from the bathroom. He notices how she turns her gaze from Charles for a second, shooting a knowing glance at him from the other side of the room before putting her attention back on the man in front of her, faking a bright smile while she listens to his ramblings.

He watches them, amused, for a few minutes before thinking about coming to his wife's rescue and save her from their colleague's grasp. He doesn't have the time to stand up and leave his booth, though, because soon enough Gina is taking a seat in front of him with a beer in her hand and a huge victorious grin on her face, forcing him to remain where he is.

"So, what do you think of Pantsuits? Could fit a girl or a boy… and Amy," the woman says without prompting, making her friend frown in confusion.

"Since when do you care about pantsuits?" he asks, curious they'd have such a conversation.

"I don't. I just think it could be a good name for your baby."

The simple use of the words 'your' and 'baby' next to one another makes the man across the table smile dreamily. _Your baby._ He's going to have a baby – _his_ baby, with Amy. They're gonna be parents.

Sure, he's known that for a few weeks already, when his wife broke the news to him in the evidence locker of their precinct (truly, this room has become his lucky room, when it comes to his relationship with her partner – and this from the very start of their love story) but he's not sure he'll ever stop being astonished that it's happening – even more so now that they finally let their squad in their little secret.

It makes it all the more real.

"Hmmm, I don't know," Jake eventually comes back to the reality of the moment, remembering the woman's offer and taking a pause to consider it. "I'm not sure Amy would be into it. She already refused we add 'Nakatomi' to our list because _there's no way we'll name our child after a tower, babe!_ "

Despite what he just said, turning down her idea, Gina's smile surprisingly only grows bigger when she hears her friend's words. "Oh, girl," she lets out an exaggerated sigh when she speaks in return, her beam still making her face shine brightly. "You don't remember, do you?" She watches the man, who simply tilts his head on the side, trying to understand what she's talking about, but apparently failing at it.

"Remember what?!" He gives up.

"9th grade. We made a deal – I talked about you to my friend Nathalie and, in exchange, you said I could choose your first child's name. Well, it's happening, girl. Get ready for it."

Jake's features instantly go white and his mouth opens in half, though no sound seems to go out of it. Flashes of his younger self, shaking hands with a younger Gina, suddenly pops into his head – a memory he obviously forgot until now.

"Oh, no," he eventually lets out, defeated, cursing his past-self for being so stupid and already regretting what he did at the time.

Amy's gonna kill him when she learns about this pact he made with his old friend – for nothing, even; Nathalie never agreed on going out with him despite the other girl's praises.

"Oh, yes," Gina grins in victory at the detective's reaction.

When he eventually regains some composure, Jake doesn't have the time to try and persuade the woman to abandon her part of the deal, because his wife comes out of nowhere and approaches the pair, having apparently managed to make Charles leave her alone. She doesn't feel the heavy atmosphere weighing on the booth, sitting next to her husband with a sigh, immediately curling against his side.

On instinct, his hand comes finding its rightful place on her belly, softly skimming her skin over her blouse with his thumb. It makes them relax instantly, no matter their moods right now.

"Ugh, I'm starting to regret telling everyone about the baby so soon." The sergeant begins with her ranting as she feels the urge to let it all out, not even acknowledging Gina's presence in front of them. "Charles wouldn't shut up about giving me his gross pregnancy tips."

It's only when she's met with silence on Jake's part that she takes a better look at him, and sees that something's wrong with him: his gaze is hanging low, stuck on the table in front of him, unable to meet her eyes while his hand curls harder on her stomach. Her own eyes wander between the two members of their squad, then, her brows furrowed together. "What's going on?" she asks him.

"We were talking baby names," Gina's the one who answers her in an enthusiastic voice while the male brunette only hides further into his seat, as if trying to disappear inside of it.

"Oh, really?" Amy's face lits up at the words, all concern momentarily forgotten, triggered by such a conversation. "We started a list of names we like!" she excitedly says. "We can't really agree with many of them yet, but it's in progress. Right, babe?" She turns towards her husband, who's still speechless, now squealing with edginess.

In front of them, their friend lets out an amused snort.

"Jake?!" The sergeant frowns and, when he hears his name, he finally looks up and straightens up in his seat, watching her with an apologetic smile slightly curling up the corners of his mouth.

"There's… something I need to tell you." He takes a deep breath, seeking some courage to tell his wife the truth. "Gina and I made a deal a long time ago–…"

He doesn't have the time to go on with his explanation, because Amy lets out a loud gasp, her eyes growing bigger and her hand coming to rest on her stomach in an instinctive, protective move at the man's reveal. "Oh my God, Jake, what did you do? Don't tell me you promised you'd give her your first born in exchange of something stupid?!" She seems on the verge of breaking down.

"What?!" Gina pouts, not understanding what's going on here.

"We're binge-watching Once Upon A Time." Jake turns to his friend – he, on the other hand, doesn't seem the least disturbed by his wife's reaction. "She's freaked out by Rumplestiltskin."

"He steals _babies_ , Jake, what's worst than that?!" Amy replies, on the defensive.

Hearing the couple's words, the civilian administrator grimaces even more. "I don't want your baby." She seems disgusted by the thought of it.

"What's going on, then?" The other woman puts her whole attention back on her husband, watching him intently with a raised eyebrow, waiting for him to explain everything to her.

He sighs before finally letting it all out. "Well, when we were children, I promised–"

"– _Blood_ -promised," Gina corrects.

"– _Blood_ -promised that I would let Gina choose my first born's name." Jake quickly lowers his gaze when he's done talking, afraid of meeting his wife's eyes again.

There's a pause, during which a heavy silence fills the booth, until realisation finally hits Amy. "WHAT?! Jake, we can't let her choose our baby's name! She called hers The Enigma! And what about the list?"

"Do you have a problem with my girl's name, Santiago?!" Gina snaps back, glaring at her friend from the seat facing her.

"N–no… Not at all." She forces a smile. "It's very… original? You know I love Iggy!" She tries her best to make up for what she just said.

Gina doesn't seem to buy it, but she doesn't say anything back regarding this matter either. She simply starts standing up, shaking her head and, while she acts like leaving the couple's table, she tells them, a smug grin back on her features, "Anyways, a deal's a deal, you can't break it. Prepare yourselves to bring Pantsuits into the world."

After she's gone, there's a moment during which none of the husband and wife speaks, lost in their own minds. Until Jake finally attempts a glance up at the woman by his side.

"I'm sorry, Ames." He breaks the silence surrounding them, watching her with an apologetic look on his face. "I totally forgot about this. To be honest, I made this deal because, at the time, I was sure I'd never become a father anyways so it'd be a win for me. I couldn't imagine myself finding someone as amazing as you wanting me and… wanting to have a family of our own."

He looks back down again after that, not out of shame this time though, only to watch his wife's belly, a small smile spreading across his face when his eyes lay on it. He can't see it then, but Amy's expression suddenly softens with her husband's words, feeling her heart clench in her chest.

She doesn't say anything right away and only comes circling his shoulders with her arm, making him scoot further into her side.

"That's okay," she eventually answers him. "We'll just have to give the baby a middle name we like and only use this one when we call her." She gently, absentmindedly strokes his arm, smiling too as she speaks.

"You still think it's gonna be a girl, huh?" Jake lets out an amused chuckle.

"Well, I don't know if you remember this one, but you have another bet going on, and I well intend to win it." The woman laughs along with him.

The detective slightly draws away from his wife's embrace so that he can meet her eyes. "I do remember. But _I_ 'm gonna win." He gives her a knowing look, before he gets closer again, pressing a soft kiss against Amy's lips.

"I love you so much," she whispers when they part, her hand cupping her cheek.

"I love you so much too," he instantly replies. "And you, too, little Pantsuits," he jokes, caressing the woman's stomach as he looks back down at it, which makes her let out a heartfelt giggle while rolling her eyes at his silliness.

(In the end, despite months of teasing them about their future child's name, that only increases when they tell her the sex – it's gonna be a girl – and sending them lists of names all more horrendous than the previous ones, Gina surprises them when she enters the hospital room where the little family is all curled up on Amy's bed a few hours after the newborn's birth, her parents watching her sleep in her mother's arms with happy tears in their tired eyes, and she lets them know of the name she eventually chose for her.

"Ana," she tells them. The couple frowns in surprise and confusion, because this is _the_ one name they finally both agreed on coming from their list of 'backup names' – and, from the mysterious grin the woman gives them when they confront her about it and she simply shrugs before leaving the room just as quickly as she came in, they understand she somehow knew that already.

"Well, welcome to the family, little Ana," Jake softly kisses the top of his daughter's head before doing the same with his wife.)


	70. One Wedding and Four Drinks

One-drink Amy is sitting alone at a booth, her gaze lost in the distance when Jake joins her, putting a quick, sweet peck on her lips before he sits in front of her and starts talking, a grin lighting up his face and his right hand curling around a glass of champagne. She watches him as he speaks, barely registering what he tells her, her eyes scanning his features with a dreamy smile covering her own. She can't seem to focus on what he has to say, too caught up in her own thoughts about how handsome her husband is in that tux, and how amazing it is to be able to call him that. She's the luckiest woman alive, having someone like himby her side and get to take his name right next to hers. Amy Santiago Peralta – it truly has a nice ring to it. Her beam turns bigger, brighter with each new thought crossing her mind like that, and in front of her, Jake frowns because though he really likes the way she looks at him, the way she's glowing, as if he's another wonder of this world, as if she just passed another of her so-loved tests, she doesn't seem to be willing to answer his question anytime soon. "Ames?" he calls her then, but she only hums in return.

"Ames, are you listening to me?" He wonders, which finally takes her out of her trance and makes her blush at the realisation that she's only been staring all along and has no clue what he's talking about.

"Sorry, what were you saying?"

Jake lets out an amused sigh – he knows her, and thus knows about her drunkenness scale –, shaking his head in fake-disappointment. "Thanks, babe, is this how you plan on treating your new husband?" He jokes, and she rolls her eyes for answer, not bothering saying anything else, simply stealing his drink from his grasp instead and downing it in one.

* * *

Two-drinks Amy is much more talkative and a lot louder as well. It doesn't seem to bother Jake, though, despite all the eyes stuck on them as they're lost in a conversation – on the contrary, he can't help but look at her with a grin growing bigger and bigger every time his wife yells for the whole bar to know how much she loves him or calls him her husband from the top of her lungs.

He can't blame the alcohol for making him answer her loudly (he is quite drunk as well, he has to admit) but when he takes her hands in both of his, he makes sure everyone around them hears the I love you so much too, my wife he lets out in amusement while marveling at her, before he leans in and kisses her for the umpteenth time this night. He swears her lips feel even better against his ever since they sealed their union a few hours earlier already and can't seem to want to stop kissing them.

* * *

Three-drinks Amy has been claiming the dancefloor as her own from barely 5 minutes after she downed her third glass of champagne of the night when she eventually leaves it, only to come back a few minutes later taking Jake by the hand and out of his watching point at the counter, leading him in the middle of the room with her. People around them leave them some space when they see them coming and, despite the music truly not being slow-dance appropriate, Amy still wraps her arms around her husband's neck while his own naturally find their place at her waist. Their foreheads gently bump into each other and they close their eyes as they start moving in silence and shared rhythm, not paying attention to anything else than the other. "This is fun," Jake eventually lets out in a dreamy whisper, eyes still shut and heart pounding with love in his chest. Amy doesn't open hers either, but she can easily picture the smile on his face, matching her own, when she hums in agreement.

It is fun indeed – and nice, and it feels like home, being inside her husband's tight, though ever-so gentle, embrace.

(When they eventually part a few minutes later, she even manages to steal a quick dance with Holt when she complains about not having had her father-daughter dance like she dreamed of it before Jake comes in and saves their boss by offering her another drink.)

* * *

Four-drinks Amy is back in a booth, with Jake and other people by her side this time, and even some others facing them, all members of their squad-slash-family. The moon is shining high outside as it's getting really late in the night, and the woman barely listens to her friends' conversations, other thoughts going through her intoxicated mind as she lets her hand wander over her husband's thigh, squeezing lightly, her nails brushing the skin there over the fabric. Her eyes are locked on his bow tie – she can't stop thinking about how much she wants to untie it and open the buttons of this white shirt of his. They're filled with lust when Jake turns to look at her, trying to contain the fire in his own that's burning his whole body because of what her teasing touch is starting to do to him – he might be completely drunk as well at this point, but he's conscious enough to remember they're in a public place and surrounded by all of their close colleagues.

When she scoots closer to his side and whispers some secret, suggestive words into his ear, pressing him to go home – and not because she's tired –, he's quick to meet her request and excuse themselves to their friends, telling them they're leaving before leading her out by the hand after some long, last goodbyes. Not even Charles's remark about them going to make babies and trying to give them some tips about what to after sex for it to work manages to calm the flame in them down and, the minute they're out in the empty street, waiting for a cab to bring them home, Amy kisses the breathe out of her husband without a warning, and it takes him all the little remaining clear parts of him to wait until they're back in their apartment for him to help his wife out of that gorgeous dress of hers.

(It's only coming full circle, they think, when they're cuddling in bed later that night, the woman's hand tracing lazy patterns on Jake's bare chest, both their gaze stuck dreamily on the ring on her left finger, ending their first night as a married couple with four-drinks Amy, just like they did on the night of their very first date and found themselves in a similar position afterwards.)


	71. I'll Teach You Everything I Know

By the time Holt and Kevin decide to (finally) renew their vows after years of talking about it but never getting the chance to do so before this particular day of the anniversary of their encounter, little Ana Santiago Peralta is already 5.

She's supposed to be playing with the other children invited, mostly all of the (ever-growing) Nine-Nine progeny, under Charles's son and Terry's twins supervision, leaving her parents some (so rare, now) time and space to enjoy for themselves, swaying around the dancefloor at a slow pace, wrapped up in a tight, loving embrace with their eyes half-closed and foreheads resting against one another when Cagney suddenly comes and disturbs their quiet moment.

"Your daughter's calling for you," the girl informs them, wearing an apologetic look on her face when the couple stops still in their movements and turn in her direction, a same frown drawing itself on their own features in confusion.

"What's going on?" they ask in one voice, Jake's hand curling around Amy's waist and hers softly squeezing his shoulder while they stare at their colleague and friend's child, waiting for an answer.

"I don't know," she acknowledges with a shrug. "We were all dancing together when she just stopped all of a sudden and started crying. We asked her if she hurt herself but she won't answer us, and won't calm down either. She just keeps saying she wants you."

The two cops don't need more explanation; they exchange a quick, knowing nod then follow Cagney where all the children are gathered together in a corner of the room. They spot their daughter right away, hunched up against a wall in her cute blue dress with Nikolaj in front of her trying to talk to her, her curly raven hair the only visible feature of hers, with her head hidden between her tiny legs.

They slowly approach the pair, stooping down to her level once by their side. Charles's son barely contains his relieved sigh when he stands up, more than happy to leave it to the girl's parents to take care of the situation by stepping aside and offering the little family some space.

"Hey, Anana," Amy puts a hand on the child's arm and starts stroking gently when she calls her name once they're all alone. Recognising her mother's voice, the girl immediately looks up at her, showing her redden eyes from having cried too much and her wet, rosy cheeks. The woman feels her heart clench in her chest at the sight – it's always hard, seeing her only child being sad.

"What's wrong, baby?" she tries not to linger too much on that and gently asks, offering a gentle, inviting-to-confess smile.

Ana doesn't reply right away; she throws herself into her mother's embrace first, in need of a hug, new tears falling onto Amy's dress until she's calmed down a little. Only then does she draw away and, while the newly-graded Captain softly removes the remaining salty pearls on her face with her hand, she eventually talks, hesitant, barely watching her parents as he does, her voice still filled with tremors.

"Iggy doesn't want to dance with me anymore. She says I'm bad at it and I stepped on her feet and hurt her."

Tears threaten to leave her shiny brown eyes again when she shuts back her mouth, done with her explanation, her chin trembling slightly.

This time, it's Jake's turn to speak with her, tenderly skimming his thumb over the little girl's cheek, a small smile lighting up the corners of his lips – truth to be told, if it weren't for Ana's sad pout right now, he would be fully laughing at her comment, reminded of another _bad at dancing, stepping on feet Santiago_. It seems like the 'like mother, like daughter' adage is true for these two.

"You know who else was bad at dancing too?" He tells her then, trying to hide his amusement the best he can, not to offend her with his reaction.

Ana shakes her head, clueless.

"Your mom." The man's fully grinning now, unable to keep it to himself anymore, even more so when he turns to his wife and she shoots him a glare in return.

She can't be mad at him for mocking her like this in front of their daughter for too long, though, because soon enough the girl is looking at her too, and there's not a trace of sadness left on her face, only curiosity, when she asks with a frown, "Really, mommy?"

"Yes," Amy has no other choice than to admit, remembering that one time all these years ago when her husband, who was still just a friend and colleague at the time, got to witness that she didn't have, indeed, no sense of rhythm _at all_ in her core.

(Good thing _he_ knew what they were doing and managed to show her how everything was properly done, making all the stress she was feeling until then go away at once, wrapped up in his arms and moving along with him, eyes locked together and a smile never leaving her features while he expertly led her around the other couples competing against one another that day.)

"But now, thanks to my very expert skills, she's not so bad at it," he can't help but teasingly brag, a huge beam covering his face when he watches the woman next to him that she soon returns despite herself, chuckling at his words. Jake quickly brings his whole attention back on his daughter, though, and adds, his grin only growing bigger as he talks, "If you'd like, I can teach you too?"

It's all it takes for Ana's face to lit up again, suddenly standing up in excitement at her father's words. "YES!" she enthusiastically answers him, her tiny hand coming to grab his own, wasting no time and already inviting him to join the dancefloor. Her mother lovingly watches them leave her side, her heart filling with bliss at the sight of the two persons she loves the most mingling with the other people already slow dancing together to the song currently playing.

"Okay Anana," Jake stops in the middle of the room, looking very serious when he bows at the little girl and offers her his hand. "Shall we, m'lady?"

His silly attitude and words make her let out a loud giggle, the sound of it resonating on the walls, and she's still laughing when she dutifully climbs on her father's feet and he starts making her move around.

(Jake perfectly remembers the very first time he made her laugh, those few years ago, when she was only a baby, and how it immediately became their life's goal, with Amy, to hear their daughter laugh as often as possible – it's the best music they've ever come to hear in their entire existence, and they're pretty certain nothing will ever top that. Making their child happy has truly become their #1 priority, ever since she was born in this fine June afternoon of 2020.)

For a while he goes on like this, making Ana joyfully turn and turn on the crowded dancefloor, showing her the moves, the both of them wearing a huge amused grin on their faces as they foolishly dance around. From time to time the girl looks away and waves at her mother, who's still watching them from afar, never leaving their sight, shooting her some _Look, mommy, I'm doing it!_ with pride, making both her parents chuckle, her visible recovered happiness warming their hearts.

"Can I have a dance too?" Amy suddenly appears next to them after some time, deciding she's been staring for too long and wanting to be part of the fun as well now, gently stroking her girl's hair before holding out her hands in her direction when both she and Jake stop in their tracks upon the woman's arrival. He offers his wife a soft smile matching her own and lets go of his daughter, who's quick to agree to the invitation and jump off her father's feet to climb on her mother's instead.

Jake doesn't stay aside for too long – he comes to wrap his arms around the two loves of his life, taking Ana in-between her parents' embrace, and the little family soon begins to happily dance together among the other couples.

(Later in the night, the child even manages to steal a dance to one of the two men of the day, pretending she wants to show him what her 'daddy taught her earlier' but in fact quickly falling asleep in her 'grampa Ray''s arms, like she calls him, rocked by his slow movements, her parents watching them while back at dancing alone together too, tears prickling in their shining eyes at the sight of their daughter and ex-Captain sharing such an adorable moment together.)


	72. Like Father, Like Daughter

**_Guest_ : thank you so much for your super kind review, it means a lot! I can't wait for season 6 either :)**

* * *

"Hi babe, I'm home!"

As soon as he passes the front door of their apartment, Jake spots Amy lying on the couch, turning in his direction at the sound of his voice and offering him a loving smile when their eyes lock together, visibly happy to see him. She's been on maternity leave for a few weeks now, the term of her pregnancy drawing nearer with each new passing day, but she has to admit she still has a hard time adjusting to this new daily life of not being able to do much other than rest, getting bored so quickly in their quiet, empty home when her husband's at work.

The detective doesn't spare any second and joins his wife in the living room, greeting her with a kiss before coming to face her, stooping down in front of her ever so prominent belly. "Hello to you too, baby," he cheerfully adds at the attention of the growing life inside of it, making his wife smile at the sight. "How are my two favorite girls doing today? D'you need anything?" He looks back at Amy with his second question, wearing a same grin as she is while staring down at him.

"We're doing fine. Though little Anana seemed very awake today. She wouldn't stop kicking." She updates her husband on the news of the day regarding their daughter.

Jake chuckles in return, lowering his gaze back on the woman's stomach wearing a light beam and glowing eyes while gently resting his hand flat on it for a few seconds in hope to feel the fetus against his palm, before he stands up and takes a seat next to her. As soon as he's settled down, she makes herself comfortable, putting her legs on his lap, lying further into the couch. He starts brushing his fingers over one of them dreamily, about to update his wife on what happened at the precinct when his eyes fall onto the table and something there catches his gaze, cutting him off in his trail of thoughts.

"What's my favorite pair of sneakers doing here?" he asks, a curious frown drawing itself on his forehead.

He's pretty sure the last time he saw his shoes, they were carefully put aside on the shelf dedicated to his whole, ever-growing collection – and it's clearly not Amy's style to move them without a good reason behind.

A mysterious grin comes curling up the sides of her lips at the man's question, as if she was waiting for him to notice the pair. "I needed them for something," she answers. "A little surprise."

"What surprise?!"

Jake's eyes lit up at the simple word, seeming very excited and not trying to hide it even a bit. His reaction makes his wife laugh lightly. For only answer, she stands up and reaches their ex-guest room turned nursery now to grab something in it – some work she busied herself with for the past few days and finally finished. She hands the package to her partner when she's back by his side, and he takes a pause to look at it, then her, then back at it when he meets Amy's inviting gaze to open it.

"Remember when you came back with three different pairs of baby sneakers?" She eventually talks while he starts unwrapping her little present.

"I already told you, it was a Father's Day discount!" Jake tries to defend himself again – it's not the first time they're having this conversation. "For every pair of baby sneakers you bought, you got one matching adult-size pair half-price, I _had_ to take advantage of it!"

"I know," Amy lets out a chuckle, remembering this day he so proudly came back with all those new pairs of shoes. "And I can't wait to see you and our baby in matching shoes, but she won't be able to wear them for a while," she reminds him of the fact that they aren't made for newborn, which makes the detective pout in return.

His expression soon turns into another curious frown when she adds, "That's why I made these in the meantime." She points as Jake finally takes out of the package a pair of tiny knitted sneakers, similar in many points to his own favorite pair on the table, though small and comfortable enough for an infant to wear them.

He silently studies them for a while before he suddenly looks up at Amy with a grin on his face and shiny, glowing eyes finding her own. "Ames!" He lets out a surprised, yet touched gasp. "She's gonna look so cute in these!" he exclaims, already picturing his future daughter in them.

He then quickly stands up to meet his wife's level and wraps his arms around her, kissing her breathlessly to thank her for her thoughtful gift. He can feel her own happy smile against his lips.

"Amy Santiago Peralta, you're the best wife-slash-future-mother ever," he tells her when they part, all the love he feels for the woman visible in the way he's staring at her in pure bliss, still carefully carrying the baby shoes in his hand.

"I know," she simply, proudly answers with a chuckle, the same matching expression in her own gaze on him, before pulling him back to her and kissing him again.


	73. When Everything Falls Apart

**When Everything Falls Apart (Your Arms Hold Me Together)**

Usually, Jake likes the color red, especially on Amy.

It's a shade that suits her well – the color of the dress she wore on their first date, he perfectly recalls, and God knows how _gorgeous_ she looked in it.

(She always does.)

But right now, as his wet, puffy, _red_ from crying too much, eyes try and scan the place in search of his girlfriend in the middle of the bustle, and all he can lie his gaze upon are the _blinding red_ of the ambulance's lights or the _dark red_ of stains of blood on the road, he finds the color quite suffocating to watch, and almost sickening.

Obviously, with his job, it's not the first time he's called on the scene of an accident – it _is_ the first time the injured civilian lying unconscious on the street is _his oldest friend_ , though.

( _"Gina got hit by a bus,"_ Amy's trembling voice said through the phone, asking, _pleading_ him to hurry up there, needing him, _needing_ his support, completely shaken up from the horror she just witnessed.

" _She's not breathing. She's not breathing!"_ He could hear Charles panicking by her side in his conversation with 911 and in contrast to the woman's lack of life getting out of her lungs, Amy's own breathes became louder, quicker on the other end of the line.

Jake ran, the fastest he ever ran, the tears falling like water from his eyes with each new step he took until he stopped in front of the perimeter, already locked by officers and emergency doctors.)

When he finally spots her, Amy's wrapped up in a blanket, sitting on the cold floor of the pavement with her arms curled around her knees, staring blankly into the distance, barely acknowledging the man in front of her trying to talk to her and calm her down, in shock. His heart misses a beat, hurting a little more in his chest at the sight of his girlfriend like this, but he tries his best to repress it all.

He removes the salty pearls from his cheeks with the back of his hand and lets out a deep sigh before joining her.

Usually, Jake likes the color red, especially on Amy.

It's a shade that suits her well – except when said red color comes from their colleague's blood and covers her hands, her blue shirt, and even some spots on her face and hair like it presently does, he notices first when he finally reaches her.

( _"Way to go, Char–…"_

 _"GINA!"_

Gina's body got thrown away a few meters with the impact of the huge bus against her back and, after one full, silent, dreadful second standing still in absolute shock, her friends left their spot and hurried up to her side, kneeling next to her, Amy's hands working their way to cover the other woman's bleeding wounds and stop the flow on pure instinct, unable to think straight otherwise.

 _"Stop staring and call 911!"_ she shouted at Charles to make him move and _do something_ , taking out her own phone from her pocket.)

"Sir, please, I'm gonna have to ask you to step aside. This woman here needs space," the doctor by Amy's side brings Jake back from his own staring trance, preventing him from getting any closer to her with a wave of his arm.

"She's my girlfriend!" His tone may be a little too harsh – after all, the other man isn't supposed to know who he is, and all he wants, just like _himself_ , is Amy's well-being – but it's hard for the detective to keep his calm under such conditions. One of his best friends is stuck between life and death while the woman he loves is clearly in a state of shock and on a verge of a panic attack.

If he can't do anything about the first one's state, he _can_ and definitely _will_ help the second by being here with her, and _no one_ will stop him from doing so.

Thankfully, he doesn't have to argue more, because when he lowers down in front of her to meet her level, Amy finally lets out her first word in a while, whispering his name, her eyes filling with tears as she buries herself into his open arms, sobbing against her boyfriend's chest, letting go of every emotion she's been feeling until then. And he tries, he really does, to stay strong, to be the shoulder she can cry on and needs so much right now, stroking her back gently with his palm spread wide over her blanket, _up and down_ , _up and down_ , while pulling her the closest he can into his embrace, but hearing her, _seeing_ her like this, only makes him cry along with her, hiding his head in the crook of her neck, wetting her long, raven hair in the process.

 _They can't lose Gina._

They must be quite the sight, wrapped up in each other, trying to fight the pain away by closing themselves off this cruel world and holding onto each other as if life depends on it, all alone in their corner now that the doctor went and left them be without them even noticing it, going to check on other possible traumatized passers-by while his coworkers still take care of the victim lying on the floor, taking all the precautions they need before moving her and bringing her to the nearest hospital.

They must be quite the sight, wrapped up in each other, but they don't even care, because right now it's the only thing keeping them from going crazy and preventing their depressing thoughts to suck them into the darkness, this reminder that they still have each other – will _always_ have each other during those harsh times they have to go through.

 _They can't lose Gina._

While still hugging his girlfriend, Jake can hear Charles moan somewhere in his back, blaming himself for what happened. It breaks him a little more than he already is, tightening his grasp around Amy's body at the sound of his weeping best friend, and he has to fight all of his better instincts not to stand up and take him in their embrace as well – Holt and Rosa are with him, he reminds himself, hearing them too tell him this is not his fault.

That's _their_ job – his is to take care of Amy presently, who needs him more than anything and anyone – and to be perfectly honest, he needs _her_ and her only right now too.

None of them know how long they remain like this but after a while, their captain comes to them, putting a hand on Jake's shoulder to make him look up, ending their moment.

"They are taking Gina to the hospital. Do you need a ride?"

"Thanks, but we'll take my car. We'll join you there," Jake answers after one shared glance with Amy, who's still trembling inside his arms, reading into them she'd rather be alone with him. Holt only nods in return without question before leaving the pair, taking Rosa and Charles with him – Terry's already on his way.

"Hey." Jake gently brushes his thumb over Amy's cheek once it's only the two of them again, attempting a shy smile at her while he puts his whole attention back on her and removes a tear from her face, along with a stain of still fresh blood. "She's gonna be just fine, okay? It's Gina – she'll never agree on going like this, hit by a dumb bus. She'd be too ashamed."

He tries to crack a joke, whispering reassuring words into her ear, and it seems to work for a moment as Amy lets out a small chuckle in response. The sound of it makes Jake's smile turn a little brighter, and his chest hurt a little less.

He kisses her temple then, pulling her close again. "She's gonna be just fine…" he repeats one last time – and he wants to believe it's true.

Amy doesn't say anything back right away, simply shuts her eyes as she lets herself melt into her boyfriend's warm embrace. Until eventually, she opens them again, studying Jake's face when she speaks again, a new glint shining in her wet gaze, voice hoarse and barely audible, her fingers intertwining with his, holding tight. "I love you so much."

"Me too. I love you so much too."

He presses his lips on hers this time, softly. Then, after another few seconds spent like this, he invites her to stand up with him, so that they can finally go to the hospital, where Gina and the rest of their squad are waiting for them. The drive there is spent in silence, and most of the time they remain in the waiting room as well, sharing short, worried glances and Jake's knuckles pressing into Amy's thigh in stress and impatience while she plays with her hair, unconsciously starting to braid some stains together.

That is, until a doctor comes in and tells them the news.

"Your friend's alive." And the whole room, filled with Gina's friends and colleagues, lets out a relieved sigh at once.


	74. It's Finally Me and You

**It's Finally Me and You (And Your Friend Charles)**

Jake is talking with his eyes closed, lying face down on his pool chair on the beach, relaxing under his wife's touch massaging his back while covering it in sunscreen, when he's suddenly cut in his ramblings about how he never wants to come back from their honeymoon by Amy's hand gripping his shoulder harder than necessary, her nails digging into his skin, startling him.

Usually, he wouldn't mind a little roughness – would even _ask_ for it on the right occasions –, but the loud surprised gasp she lets out at the same time tells him that her gesture wasn't made on purpose.

"Everything's alright, babe?" he asks, curious and a little worried. His eyes are now open, but he doesn't make a move.

"Look up," she simply says, quickly loosening her grasp on him at the sound of his voice, taken out of her trance. She gently brushes his skin with her thumb, over the prints her fingers left on it. She can feel the top of her ears start to burn with a coming shameful blush when she realises how hard she's been holding onto him.

Jake obliges, turning around and straightening on his chair. His eyes immediately find his wife's and he studies her with her frown. She nods towards somewhere in the distance, inviting him to look where she's pointing at and that's when he finally sees it – or, rather, _them_ – too: Charles and Genevieve are coming their way.

They wave at the newlyweds, and Jake can see his best friend's grin grow wider when their eyes meet, while his own diminishes with each new step the other couple takes towards them.

"What the hell is Charles doing here?!" He eventually lets out in shock, unable to take his gaze away from him.

"Don't ask _me_." Amy's upset voice makes Jake finally turn his attention back towards her – he can thus see she's glaring at him with a suspicious glint in her eyes, her eyebrows raised in question and her arms crossed over her chest. "Babe, did you tell him where we were going for our honeymoon?"

Jake sheepishly lowers his head.

"I might have possibly spilled it out during our wedding celebration at Shaw's… Or when my father called to tell me about finding us a flight…"

Amy sighs, the look on her face even more severe now, he notices when he attempts a glance up at her following his confession. "JAKE! We agreed on keeping the destination a secret so that something like _this_ wouldn't happen. Especially after how our wedding turned out," she complains.

"I know. And I'm sorry. But I was so excited about all of this. My father doing something nice for us – for me, for once. And that our honeymoon wouldn't be ruined finally, that we'd be able to spend a full week of vacation just the two of us to celebrate being _married_." He truly looks up at her this time and can witness her expression soften with each new word he lets out in explanation.

She offers him a shy smile, taking his hands in hers, squeezing them lightly. She can't be mad at him for too long – she understands how he feels all too well, this want to share his happiness with the world.

She has it as well.

Unfortunately, she doesn't have the time to respond with anything, Charles and Genevieve reaching their side.

"Jake! Amy! What a coincidence," Genevieve talks first, smiling brightly at them.

"Sure is a coincidence…" Amy mumbles under her breath – only Jake hears her, tightening his grasp around her fingers to calm her down, sensing she's starting to get stressed.

"Let me handle this," he whispers into her ear, pulling her closer and kissing her cheek on the way, wanting to make up for being at the origin of this situation. Then, louder, his eyes stuck on Charles and a forced polite smile on his face, he asks in a falsely nice voice at the attention of the other couple, "What are you guys doing here?"

"Oh, you know, just enjoy a little romantic getaway at the beach," Charles answers this time, wearing a huge, knowing grin on his features.

"And you chose this particular one, _miles_ away from New York, because…?"

"Genevieve has some family here." The other detective doesn't lose it. "The real question is, what are you guys doing here?! You should be back at your hotel right now. Y'know, making _babies_." He winks.

Against his side, Jake can feel Amy's body tense, a disgusted pout forming on both of their faces. He sweetly strokes her arm before standing up.

"Okay, buddy, can I talk to you in private for a sec?"

"Sure."

The pair leaves the women alone, walking a few steps away. "So, tell me. How's the honeymoon going?! I want all the details!" Charles asks as soon as they're out of earshot, his smile as big and bright as ever.

"It was going pretty great, thank you. Until you arrived and _crushed it_." Jake doesn't even try and be subtle anymore. "What the hell, bud? How could you imagine coming here would be a good idea?!"

"I just wanted to make sure you guys had everything you needed here," he tries to defend himself.

"Well, we do. So now, can you leave us alone, _please_?"

Charles only nods his agreement in return. Jake studies him for a few seconds, wanting to know he's sincere and won't try to interfere in his quiet vacation with Amy ever again. Then, when he does, they go back to their respective spouse and girlfriend. Jake barely has the time to sit back next to Amy that someone else rushes towards them, shouting Charles's name, panting when he stops in front of the group.

Amy's eyes widen when she recognises the man in front of them, reaching for her husband's hand in comfort as she speaks. "Great. Now Terry's here too."

 _Unbelievable_ , she thinks. It's like they can't get rid of their squad and have a _normal_ , quiet vacation, even for just a week.

"I'm sorry, guys. I tried to talk him out of this, but he wouldn't listen," the Sarge excuses himself, seemingly embarrassed to be here with them, during their _honeymoon_.

"Well, Charles was just telling me he had to leave, right, Charles?" Jake gives his best friend a knowing, insisting look. "So we're all good here."

"Yes. Genevieve and I have some family to meet," he confirms. "Jakey, Ames," he nods at them. "Enjoy the rest of your vacation, and see you next week. Don't forget to come back with some gifts," he can't help but add with a suggestive wink at the couple, which owes him a dark glare and his name being shouted once more before he eventually leaves.

Terry is soon to follow after apologising one more time for not being able to prevent this moment from happening.

"I'm so sorry," Jake says too when they're finally alone again, letting out a sigh.

"It's okay," Amy simply replies with a smile, feeling much better now that their friends left. She cups her husband's cheek and kisses him lightly. "Do you want to go back to our hotel and stay in bed all day, away from everyone?" she asks when they part, her eyes lovingly locking with his – she had enough company for today and only wants to enjoy her time with the man she loves, right now.

He seems to agree with her. "Yep, let's do that." He stands up, taking her by the hand to invite her to do the same, leading her back to their room after putting some of their clothes back on.

He freezes in front of their door's room, suddenly hesitant. "Wait."

"What?" Amy frowns.

"What if Holt is in there, waiting for us to come back, lurking in the dark?" He turns to her, worry visible in his eyes, and the expression on his face makes the woman laugh.

"I highly doubt so."

"He did that for Halloween…" He reminds her of the fact.

"Oh, yeah… That was creepy. But still, he has so much more to take care of now that he's a commissioner."

These words seem to work on Jake, because he simply smiles in return, before suddenly taking Amy in his arms without a warning first, making her let out a surprised giggle. He carries her inside the room bridal style – it's dark, the curtains closed to keep the warmth outside of it. He carefully walks towards the bed, lying her there before joining her.

He's about to reach and kiss her when he's suddenly stopped in his tracks by a low voice he knows all too well resonating on his back and spots Holt opening the curtains with a mischievous grin covering his face. "Hello, Peralta. Santiago."

Jake screams so loudly at the sight that he wakes himself up, the light coming from the shining sun above him blinding him for a few seconds before adjusting to it.

"Babe?" Over him, stopping still in her massaging his back with sunscreen, Amy calls his name, worried. He turns around, only to see her, and _just_ her, on the beach. That's when he realises he's been dreaming the whole time and lets out a loud, relieved sigh. "You're okay?" she asks again in front of his silence.

He scans the place, just to make sure they're alone indeed before putting his gaze back on his wife, smiling. "I am, yeah. I just fell asleep and had the weirdest dream," he reassures her.

Amy raises an eyebrow in question, letting out a small chuckle while rolling her eyes, but doesn't ask for more, concentrating again on rubbing her husband's back with the lotion, allowing him to quickly relax under her expert, welcomed touch.

(He tells her about what happened in his dream later that day on their way back to their hotel and, even though they know they're being paranoid, they can't help but stop in the middle of their heated kiss once they're inside the room to check everywhere for a possible intruder before going back to what they were doing once reassured no-one's there and join their bed.)


	75. Satisfying TV Finale

It's not the first time Jake or Amy discover (and finish) _Parks and Recreation_.

It is, however, the first time they watch it _together_ – they've been doing a marathon of the TV show for almost half a year now, and have just reached the end of its finale.

"Are you crying?" Amy hears a sniffle by her side when silence takes over the living room, once the screen in front of them has turned to black after the very last scene of the series played.

There's another sniffle – quieter, trying to be more discreet this time. "No…"

"Jake."

"Okay, fine. I _am_ crying. But can you blame me? That was beautiful! They all got the happy ending they wanted and deserved…" Jake wants to defend himself, pouting as she turns her head away from the TV to look at him and she catches a glimpse of his puffy eyes and a few fallen tears on his cheeks.

She lets out a small giggle, scooting over further into his side on the couch. With her thumb, she softly removes a salty pearl, her eyes drowning in his while she smiles at him.

"They did indeed," she nods.

It's quiet for a while after that, Jake and Amy cuddling together in complete silence, the woman mindlessly playing with the collar of her fiancé's shirt and his hand gently stroking her arm, lost in their thoughts and this feeling of emptiness that comes with finishing a show they love and having to say goodbye (again) to its characters after so long.

Indeed, Jake had just gotten out of prison when they started their rewatch, in need of something cheerful to help ease the traumatizing experience he went through – and they're _engaged_ , now.

Only a few months away from being married.

"What do you think the flashforwards to our futures would be like, if we were characters in a TV show with a similar finale?" Amy wonders aloud, suddenly breaking the calmness in the room.

"Easy." Jake draws a little away from her, so that he can watch her better as he speaks.

Amy frowns, curious to hear what he has in mind that is so 'easy,' not expecting such a quick answer, without him taking some time to think about it first.

"Well, first of all, there'd be our wedding day." He takes his fiancée's left hand in his, a dreamy smile curling up the corners of his mouth when his gaze lingers on the ring shining there for a moment and his finger ever-so carefully skims over it. "Me, you, and everyone we care about all together to celebrate our love."

A matching expression covers Amy's face, being reminded of their upcoming union. She turns her hand so that their palms are facing and she can intertwine hers with Jake's, waiting for him to go on.

"Of course, just like Leslie, you'd achieve your long-life dream and become the youngest Captain of the NYPD, in front of the whole squad and your so proud husband."

Her smile grows wider, but she doesn't say anything. She likes his ideas so far, and doesn't want to cut him off in the middle of sharing them.

"And I'd obviously achieve mine too – meet John McClane and become such good friends, he'd ask me to play in _Die Hard 6_ with him." Jake grins, amused, sensing Amy's body shudder with laughter against his.

" _That's_ your dream?" She gently teases him.

"Of course. But don't worry, babe. I'm not gonna forget about you when I'm a Hollywood star hanging out with the most famous actors."

She rolls her eyes at that but, despite all her willpower, she can't retain a chuckle from escaping her mouth, especially when Jake leans over and presses a soft peck on her lips, his hand falling down her side to rest at her waist. His enthusiasm and huge beam spread across his face when they part seem to prove very catching.

"Speaking of, what about the two of us?" Amy is curious about his take on their future as a couple – besides their wedding. He falls serious again, watching her intently with pure love in his eyes as he goes on with his speech, his smile more gentle now, staring deeply at her.

"Well, just like Andy and April, there'd be the birth of our first child."

The mention of a child of their own makes Amy's heart warm up in her chest, something switching in her eyes and her features softening immediately.

It's not the first time they're talking about becoming parents someday with Jake, obviously. They had the conversation several times already.

But still, it always produces the same reaction in her – a pure, overwhelming bliss at the thought of minis part-Jake, part-her going around the house.

"Any other flashforward with possible children?" She goes on playing along, an amused grin lighting up her face while her fingers lovingly stroke his own while picturing a life with their progeny.

"Actually, yes. One last. Our whole family – with our two girls and one boy, making some silly bet to know who – _they_ or _we_ – will have to make dinner for the upcoming night."

Amy lets out a hearted laugh. "I hope our children end up better cooks than we are," she answers, making Jake laugh along with her with her words.

She then suddenly falls silent, staring at her fiancé.

The way he didn't pause nor hesitate once while he spoke, as if he thought about her question a lot in the past, does something beautiful to her heart, warming it up in a way no one else ever did before.

(He definitely is _the one_ – her right person.)

And, in fact, he did think about it. Not the 'what if we were characters in a TV show finale' part of the question – but their future. Everything he talked about is what he wishes for them – and _her_ – in the upcoming years.

For himself too, of course, though befriending an actor and getting a role in _Die Hard_ objectively seems less achievable than his soon-to-be wife making Captain and them having kids together.

Which is kind of crazy to him, given how just a few years ago, he'd have put everything in this wish-list on the same level, being a husband and father sounding just as impossible as his favourite movie-related fantasies to him.

(It's not anymore – the ring on Amy's left finger is a real proof of it.)

"But it sounds like a true happy ending for our characters." Amy talks again, still completely overwhelmed with joy, taking Jake back to the reality of the moment. "Very satisfying finale."

"That's what we deserve," he answers, wearing a sincere smile, slowly coming to cup her face and kiss her softly.

When they part, he stares at her for a beat, as if lost in thoughts.

"Though I do hope getting married and having kids won't be our happy _ending_. More like a happy beginning, with so many more great adventures to come for us all even after that."

"That's the pitch of another TV show finale, babe," Amy laughs, teasing, before she kisses him back.

She agrees with him, though – their story is far from being over.

If anything, it's only barely starting, with a wedding expected in a few months.


	76. If You're Lost, I'm on My Way

**Inspired by the 1x04 cold-open and the story of the Nightingale Strangler. Set in a near future**.

* * *

It was supposed to be just another ordinary undercover mission.

She promised she'd be home in time for a real date – between the two of them, that is.

"How do I look?" she asked with a playful grin when she came out of the precinct's locker room, changed from her Sergeant uniform to more casual clothes.

He stared at her in silence for a beat, gazed at the beautiful green dress covering her body and falling on all right places, before answering.

"You look amazing," he said with a truthful, awestruck smile. She always did anyways – no matter what she was (or was not) wearing.

He noticed how the tip of her ears started to colour in a new shade of red following the compliment, soon spreading down to her cheeks, and his smile grew bigger, matching her own.

"I wish I were the one you're getting ready to go on a date with, though."

She took a step closer and both his hands in hers.

"Well, if things go according to plan…" She brushed her thumb against his, locking eyes with him. "I won't be eating anything anyways, and we'll still have plenty of time to go out and celebrate after," she suggested, exchanging a knowing nod with him. She freed one of her hands to let it rest over his heart and dreamily play with the collar of his hoodie.

"I'd love that."

He leaned in for a quick kiss, quietly staring at her for a short while after they parted, then rearranged a strand of hair on top of her ear to cover the electronics of her newly put glasses-camera, leaving his hand there afterwards, absentmindedly brushing her cheek with his fingers as he spoke again.

"Let's get through your persona one last time."

"My name is Alice Rodriguez, I'm a librarian, divorced three times and in search of true love." Amy perfectly recited the traits of the character her husband helped her come up with a few weeks ago, when her mission first started. She had indeed signed into a famous dating app under the made-up name in order to find and track down a criminal who had been terrorizing the women of New-York for quite some time.

He had already made five different victims in the area – all hopeless, lonely women he had encountered on said dating app – by asking them out, poisoning their food before strangling them in his van.

Pretty gnarly, if you asked Jake.

But, after reaching dead end after dead end, the man seeming to be an expert who knew how to leave no trace behind, they had finally managed to get a vague description of him: they were looking for a white male with brown hair and a small, significant scar on his right cheek.

Just like the one the person the Sergeant was about to meet with had on his own face.

The plan was simple, then: lure him into having dinner with her and catch him in the act, when he'd try to hurt her, gathering all the evidence they needed to lock him up.

She wasn't going alone, obviously – her whole team and their Captain would be there as well, watching from the outside (hence the glasses-camera) to make sure everything was going well and be there in case she needed backup – which Amy was positive she wouldn't. It was her first big case she'd been assigned since her graduation, and she well-intended to prove her value with it.

She'd been working on it for too long for something to mess up this close to the end.

"Well, seems like you're ready." Her husband proudly smiled at her once she finished revising her persona with details. He started to walk towards the exit door, where her squad was waiting for her, but she stopped him in his tracks before he could pass it.

"Almost," she answered, and he frowned, confused, turning back to her and watching as she took off her wedding ring for the very first time since the day he put it there himself, only a few months ago. And, even though it hadn't been that long she had it, it left a mark on her finger where it was supposed to be, just like she already felt like she was missing something.

She approached Jake and carefully put it in his palm. "Can you keep it for me?"

He simply nodded in response, closing his hand into a fist around the little piece of jewelry, holding onto it as if guarding it was the most important mission he'd ever been given.

"Now I'm ready." She smiled at him, satisfied. But, before she could leave, being the one who prevented her from going this time, he wrapped his free hand around her waist and kissed her, a little more fiercely and desperate than the first time but still short enough to be considered workplace-appropriate.

He let his forehead rest against hers and they both kept their eyes closed for a while when they drew apart, getting lost in the moment. He hesitated for a second before asking in a whisper, "Polish or pizza?"

She opened her eyes, meeting his gaze, and offered him an amused grin in return. He didn't have to explain for Amy to understand he was talking about their upcoming date.

(He didn't have to say for Amy to know that behind such common words, he actually meant __'be careful and come back safe.'__ He believed in her, of course he did, and he believed in her skills as a Sergeant, but he couldn't help but feel a little worried about her mission anyway – she was going after an actual __serial killer__ , after all, not fighting some common, harmless crime.)

"Surprise me." She met his lips in another quick peck and offered him a reassuring smile before they finally joined her squad and their Captain outside.

* * *

It was supposed to be just another ordinary undercover mission.

Jake was sitting at his desk, working late on some paperwork in the quiet, almost empty bullpen, waiting for Amy to come back so that they could leave the precinct together when he received the phone call. The instant he saw the name appear on his screen – __Officer Jennings__ –, he knew something had happened, and his heart dropped in his chest even before he heard the news.

"Hello?" His voice came out as hoarse when he picked up, despite his (failed) attempts at keeping his calm.

"Detective Peralta?" Gary's usual over-excited tone was replaced with tremors of panic here, which didn't help the feeling in Jake's guts to go away – on the contrary, it only grew bigger. A heavy silence took over for what felt like an eternity before Amy's best Officer started talking again, unsure, afraid of how his interlocutor was going to react. "There's been an issue."

"What kind of issue?!" Jake closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, taking in this too vague piece of information.

When he opened them again, his gaze fixated on something standing up in the middle of the mess that was his desk – his wife's wedding ring, shining among all of his different toys. He grabbed it, nervously playing with it, turning it around his fingers absentmindedly while not so patiently waiting for an answer to his question.

"We lost her."

The truth was out, and a dreadful beat passed.

"What do you mean, you __lost__ her? She's supposed to be wearing a camera on her!"

"Yeah, about that…" Jake could hear Gary swallow before going on with his explanation. "We think Humbert somehow sensed that something was going on, because he wouldn't stop asking Sergeant Santiago to take off her glasses, arguing he wanted to see what she looked like without them. She tried to find excuses not to, but was forced to oblige at some point if she didn't want to blow up her cover.

She never put them back on and, by the time we came to check on her inside the restaurant, the waiter told us they had left through a back door. And the van's not here anymore."

It took everything in Jake's power not to burst out in anger at the Officer on the other end of the line and tell him that he had __one__ job and managed to fail at it, his hand now clenching into a fist around the silver band he was still holding onto. He could feel his nail digging through his palm as he somehow managed to even his breathing, which would most definitely leave marks later, but he didn't care.

He had more important things to think about – like, figuring out where his wife went, and save her before it was too late.

"I'm coming over." He didn't wait for any approbation or any other word and hung up immediately, already gathering up his stuff.

As he drove towards the restaurant where Amy and her perp had been last seen, Jake couldn't stop the images of her strangled, lifeless body lying in a dark, damp street haunting his thoughts. He tried to chase them away, putting his whole attention on the road ahead. __She's tough, and she's smart,__ he repeated in his mind, wanting to reassure himself this way. __She got this. You're gonna find her, and put this son of a bitch behind bars, and you'll be able to take her out on a real date, like she promised you would.__

He started making plans, then, finding that it helped a lot, picturing himself with his wife at the restaurant – or maybe he'd just cook her something, as she'd like to stay at home after such a night? __This__ would be a real surprise, as she asked him to before they parted a few hours ago.

Yes, that's what they'd do, he decided. Dinner and a movie. Just the two of them curled up on the couch.

Safe and sound. __Home__ _._

* * *

It was supposed to be just another ordinary undercover mission.

Though here Amy is, lying on the dirty hard cold floor, barely conscious of where she is and what's going on around her, her vision blurry as she slowly opens back her eyes, some sound resonating in her ears and making her head ache even more than it already is – and she doesn't know __why__ it's aching like this in the first place.

"Ames?!" Jake repeats her name again when he sees her blink one, two, three times until her confused gaze eventually fixates on him. "Hi, babe." He lets out a relieved sigh that she's finally come back to them and doesn't seem too physically hurt, managing a small, shy smile at her. "It's me, Jake. Do you know where you are?" he asks in a concerned, yet very soft, voice.

She doesn't answer right away – takes a second to think, furrowing her brows in concentration, images of her night slowly but surely coming back in pieces to her mind. Suddenly, her expression switches to something more agitated, looking around in panic. "Humbert…" she whispers as she tries to move, but her husband keeps her in place – she needs to lay still.

"Shhh." He gently makes her look back at him. "It's alright. We took care of him. It's over. You're all safe now," he promises, and his words manage to calm her down a little, resting her head back on the floor, staring at the ceiling of the abandoned building the criminal dragged her in after he discovered her ruse and both of their plans got ruined, lost in thoughts.

She concentrates on trying to take deep, even breaths.

Next to her, Jake watches her for a moment, unable to look away from her even for a second, reminding himself that she's indeed here and __well__ in front of him, before he comes to brush a strand of loose hair off her face with his finger. His wife reacts by instantly jumping in startlement at the simple touch, which makes him remove his hand fast, the farthest away from her.

He studies her, worry coursing inside his eyes as he does so, scanning her in search of a potential injury or anything that would explain such a rejection from her.

She seems fine, though – physically, at least.

"What did he do to you?!" he asks, then. His voice his strangely calm, despite the blood boiling in his veins at the thought of Humbert hurting the love of his life to the point that she can't seem to stand her __husband__ 's simple and soft touch on her skin. Amy, who turned her gaze to look at him, looks away again, unable to meet his eyes, feeling somehow ashamed and mad at herself for reacting like this.

She wishes her body wouldn't tense the way it did at her husband's touch.

She wishes it could tell the difference between some monster's gross grip around her waist and lowering to her butt as he lead her to his van, playing happy couples in the middle of the crowded street all the while threatening her with a knife pointed at her – __'a word and you're dead'__ – and Jake's gentle stroke of her face.

Most of all, she wishes __he__ wouldn't look at her like he is, right now – with guilt of hurting her shining in his brown eyes.

He's not. __Humbert__ was the son of a bitch who took her there.

"Can we talk about it later?" She shyly brings her gaze back at him after a while spent in complete silence, and he offers her a reassuring smile.

"Of course," he immediately agrees. "Whenever you feel like it." She notices how his hand twitches along his side and he has to restrain himself from reaching to her again, and her heart clenches in her chest.

She wants to say something to ease the pain, but she's cut off before she can even open her mouth by the sound of an ambulance coming their way to take her to the hospital. Despite her protests that she's fine, willing to go home and forget about everything that happened, wishing things would go back to normal the sooner possible, she has to stay the night in observation, Jake sleeping on a chair by her side.

It takes a little longer to recover but, in the end, when she eventually gets the date she was supposed to have with her husband on that night, him surprising her with both her favourite Polish __and__ pizza take out to enjoy alone at home when she's back from the hospital, her body only warms up now when he gently, ever-so carefully claps his hands around her waist while she initiates the kiss, thanking him for the sweet, loving attention.

When they part, he draws himself a little away from her, searching for something inside his pocket he's kept there all along, taking out her wedding ring.

"Do you, Amy Santiago," he asks, imitating Holt's voice perfectly. "Take Jake Peralta to be your husband?"

She lets out a small, amused chuckle. "I do."

He then slides the ring back where it belongs on her left finger, and she smiles as she looks at it.

 _ _Now__ she's completely home, she thinks. __Alright.__ )


	77. I Know that We Could Make this Work

**2x23 Canon-divergence, in which Jake and Amy's undercover mission consists in playing a newly married couple on their honeymoon for a week.**

 **(Inspired by the deleted pool scene in Timeless 2x03.)**

* * *

The small, cool breeze of a mid-May night makes Amy's body shiver a little as she stands in front of the rooftop pool of the luxurious hotel that has become her 'home' for the past week now. It's quiet, up here, with the only audible sound the soothing noise made by the wind on the water and the distant, muffled buzzing of the always so busy streets of New York City below. The ideal spot for times like these, then, when she needs some space to relax, or when she simply wants to be herself, far away from any possible prying eyes who could blow up her and Jake's entire cover if they're not vigilant enough, wasting a week's worth of work – and even more before the beginning of this mission they've been assigned to.

That is, playing newlywed couples on their honeymoon to get close to some wanted criminal living there with his own girlfriend, worming some needed information out of him before arresting him.

From the outside, it might not seem like it, staying at a 4* hotel, sharing 'dates' with her supposed husband or spending lazy afternoons by the pool, but she's had a very tiring week.

Always having to pretend to be somebody else can be quite challenging, despite how good at being Johnny and Dora (the names they came up with for their personas) Jake and Amy have become day after day. Indeed, they don't have to think about it anymore, when they sit next to each other, that they need to stay close and look like they don't mind the invasion of their personal space – it only seems natural that they curl up against the other's side. It's also become a habit of theirs, as if their hands are working on their own accord now, when they walk around the hotel lobby and their fingers intertwine, exchanging a broad, knowing smile like the blissful couple enjoying their vacation they're supposed to be here.

They've apparently even come to a new proximity, as of just a few hours ago – getting as close as kissing in front of their perp after sharing another of their made-up 'love' stories during a double-date with the man and his girlfriend.

She tries to persuade herself they're just that good at putting up an act – but the truth is, sometimes, like tonight, she wonders if they're still acting or if this is what they want, deep inside.

As Jake and Amy, that is.

(She knows he does – he told her so before their assignment started, when she confronted him about creating a whole fuss out of it and asking – pleading – their Captain to make him go on the mission with someone else, arguing that nobody would ever believe they were married, even daring to say that he and Hitchcock had more chemistry together than the two of them.

"Why are you trying to keep me off this case?"

"Remember when you told me that you didn't want to date cops? I was kind of thinking about asking you out."

"Oh, okay…")

Footsteps coming her way suddenly takes her out of her reverie and, when she turns around to see who's disturbing her quiet moment, Amy finds herself face-to-face with Jake himself, a small smile curling up his lips when their eyes meet. She notices how he changed from the suit he was wearing during their 'date' to more casual clothes, his hair still a little wet from the shower he's just gotten out of and still was in when she last left the room. His face is brightened by the open lights inside the building, a dire contrast with the darkness of the night, framing his features in some shining glow, and she can't help but smile back at the sight of him.

"I knew I'd find you here."

He slowly approaches her, handing her one of the two drinks he apparently brought from their room with him once he's by her side – the perks of staying at a very expensive hotel (not to their own fee, much thankfully).

"I got worried sick when I didn't see you in our room, sweetheart," he teasingly says, making her chuckle lightly as he gently bumps his shoulder with hers, glancing at her with an amused, knowing grin – it seems to entertain him a lot, calling her by all the possible pet names he can think of when they play pretend – sometimes very ridiculous, shameful ones.

She'd be lying if she'd say she doesn't find it funny and somehow extremely cute, though, and that she didn't feel the tip of her ears burn and her heart skip a beat the first time he called her 'babe' for the sake of their mission (that's definitely her favorite, if she had to pick one – and he seems to have understood so, because it's also the one he tends to use the most when he can't think of new ones he's already called her by before, she noticed). But right now, while she quickly decided to play along and counter with something even more gnarly and embarrassing most of the times he comes up with this game, she settles for not answering anything back, simply rolling her eyes and shaking her head at his silliness. They end up sipping their cocktail in silence, the both of them with their gaze stuck in front of them, lost in their own heads and wandering thoughts, watching as life goes by down below, the city never going to sleep, even this late at night.

It remains this calm for a while, until Jake eventually breaks the quietness that quickly, though agreeably fell upon them, something on his mind bothering him.

"About earlier… I'm sorry I kissed you at dinner."

It makes Amy look at him with a frown, memories of the event coming back to her in a rush – how he took her by surprise, putting his hand around her neck and gently pulling her towards him, brushing his lips with hers without even a warning first.

(How her heart stopped, if only for a second, getting lost in the man's embrace as she finally kissed him back, eyes closed to better appreciate the exchange and feel it more deeply.)

"It's just… it seemed like Augustine was looking at us suspiciously and his girlfriend was waiting for me to do something after this 'romantic' story we shared with them." His gaze fixates on the liquid inside his glass, making it turn nervously with a swirl of his wrist, unable to meet his colleague's eyes.

But, much to his surprise, when he eventually manages a glance up at Amy, she's smiling at him – something shy, yet very soothing.

"That's okay," she says, and she means it. "You did what you thought was the right thing to do to keep our cover intact. That was pretty clever, actually. Some quick, professional thinking out there. Well done, Detective."

She tries to sound casual, as if their kiss didn't affect her at all, but her growing smile doesn't quite reach her eyes. Jake catches it – and he wants to say something about it, but chooses to remain quiet instead, simply smiling back at her silently. It's only when he's looking at the view in front of them again that he lets out, barely above a whisper, more like an inner comment than anything she's supposed to hear, "Yeah… very professional."

But she does, and inside her chest something cracks a little, recognizing the defeat in his voice, knowing all too well what this means – how for him, it didn't feel like he was simply doing his job.

And, if she's being honest with herself, it wasn't the case for her either. What she felt when their lips touched wasn't part of any undercover missions, and she's not simply that good at acting.

And maybe that's okay, she's ready to admit it, now.

"I'm tired of pretending," she eventually says out loud with a sigh, following her trail of thoughts. She doesn't look at Jake while she speaks, but he does – and, studying her form from the side, unable to restrain the small beam to cover his face as he watches how the faint lights around them work on her features, making her skin glow in the dark of the night and her brown eyes shine brighter, he doesn't know how he's supposed to react to that – what she means, what she wants him to say.

If she wants him to say anything.

"Are you implying you're not enjoying playing married life with me?" He gasps exaggeratedly, covering his chest with his hand theatrically. "That's very hurtful, Santiago. I think I'm an awesome fake-husband, thank you very much." He jokes, because it's the best way he knows how to handle such situations, and the amused sound she makes in response to that warms his entire body up, remembering a conversation they had with their perp's girlfriend during the week, and the way Amy looked at him while giving what sounded like a very sincere answer.

("So, how did you know she was the one?"

"He makes me laugh.")

Her expression soon turns into something a lot more serious as she looks back at him and intently holds his gaze, though, making him instantly lose his smug grin as well.

"Hey, look, the mission's almost over," he adds in a much softer voice this time, then. "Tomorrow night, we'll be back in our own, separate rooms in our own, separate apartments. Back to a life as being just colleagues. We won't have to pretend anymore."

There's a hint of disappointment in his tone he's hardly able to hide – because, in truth, he likes what they have, here. The world they created, just the two of them, with Johnny and Dora. And he's sad it's already coming to an end, knowing this whole week of playing pretend is the closest he'll ever get to a relationship with this woman he really likes. He respects her choice, of course.

But still, it sucks that she doesn't want him back – especially when he sees how easy it's been for them to fall into this new routine as a 'couple' and got a glimpse of what dating Amy would be like, and how great it seemed – even if it was fake. Not everything was for him.

(Sometimes, during the week, he dared to think not everything was for her either, when while in the intimacy of their room, the only place where they almost never had to fake anything, he woke up to her body pressed against his own, and her smiling, sleeping face hidden in the crook of his neck.

But then she'd wake up too, and become aware of their proximity, and would get up and leave straight to the bathroom, and he'd watch as her ears turned a new shade of pink in a blush, never bringing it up again when she was back in the room, already making plans for the day to come.)

"That's not what I meant." Her voice brings him back to the reality of the moment, surprising him. He doesn't answer anything, waiting for her to further explain herself, which she quickly does. "I mean, I'm tired of pretending I don't want this –," she pauses, gesturing between the both of them with her free hand, locking her eyes with his in an intent stare, "– thing between us."

Jake's not so sure he's rightly understanding what she's trying to tell him, that's why he asks, confused, "Wait. Are you saying–…?" But he can't seem to finish his sentence, too startled by this unexpected – though something wished for a lot – turn this conversation is taking.

"I don't want this relationship to stop when we're back home. Well, obviously, I don't want us to act like we're a married, just-coming-back-from-their-honeymoon couple but, y'know…"

She trails off, but doesn't have to say more this time.

There's a new glint inside his eyes and a true beam curling up the corners of his mouth when he answers, ever-so sincere, "I really don't want to go back to how things were before either."

She smiles, too. "Good."

And, with that, Jake takes a step closer, putting his glass aside so that he can grab Amy's waist with both of his hands and pull her close to him, never leaving her sight. It makes her giggle, and her heart beat faster in her chest at this new proximity, and her grin grow wider in pure happiness as well. They've found each other in this intimate position several times during the week already, but never before did she feel as right inside this embrace – probably because on this quiet, void of any witness rooftop, she knows she's wrapped between Jake's – and not Johnny's – arms.

And it makes all the difference, knowing they're not playing pretend anymore.

Nonetheless, she still stops him before their lips can even only brush, when he leans over and his face is just inches away from hers, worry coursing through her veins. "Wait, we're still on duty." She slowly, very reluctantly pushes him a little away from her, her palm flat on his chest to prevent him from coming any closer, the fear of being distracted from their job hitting her hard and not wanting to leave her mind once settled there.

In response, Jake simply lets out an amused chuckle. "Yeah, working as a couple. I don't think this will blow up our cover. If anything, it'll make it look more real, don't you think? Plus, we've done remarkable work this week, Detective, I say we deserve at least one night of taking advantage of this amazing hotel for realz before we leave."

His thumbs are gently skimming her skin over her dress as he speaks, reassuring her, and he can feel her body relax at his touch – or words – or probably both. When he falls quiet again, seeing her nod her approval after a quick thinking, he doesn't waste any more second and leans over again, pressing his lips against hers. She doesn't stop him this time, even deepening the kiss by abandoning her own drink too and encircling his neck with both her arms.

Again, it's nothing like the first one they shared a few hours ago – it's much better, and intimate.

It's real. It's them only.

They're both grinning widely when they part, trying to even back their breathing as they rest their foreheads against one another, unable – unwilling – to let go of the grasp they hold on the other. For just a moment, Jake looks away from Amy, his gaze suddenly drawn onto the empty pool before putting it back on her with a shining glow in his eyes, as if an idea just popped into his head.

"Y'know, I've always thought making out in a pool would be kinda hot." He nods towards it, grinning suggestively.

Immediately, her expression switches from loving to something more severe – daring, even.

"Don't you even think about it," she warns him, but the way she looks at him doesn't seem to scare him a bit. Quite the contrary, even – it only makes him laugh. "I am not getting this dress wet."

"Aren't you, really?" He teases her, then without another word, takes her into his arms and jumps into the water, dragging her along with him before she can realize what he's doing and thus prevent him from doing so.

Amy lets out a loud gasp when their heads are back on the surface, searching for air, and she splashes him with water in revenge.

"Jake!" She tries to complain but soon enough, between two laughs, his lips are finding hers again, shushing her with a searing kiss. She has to admit then, getting lost into his embrace, hooking her legs around his body as he holds her tight against him, kissing her again and again while the water hits them in waves, that it is kind of hot indeed, the two of them alone in this pool in the dark of the night, little drops of water falling from their hair and faces. She'd have stayed there if it weren't for her body quickly getting cold despite Jake's warm hug and hot kisses.

"Let's go back inside, you're shivering," he offers after a while, reluctantly pulling away from her, leading her out of the pool and back to their hotel room.

Once inside, he doesn't waste any second, going straight to the bathroom, where he takes out a bathrobe he gently wraps Amy in, stroking her arms vividly to try and warm her up. She doesn't leave his sight as he does so, biting her lip as she watches him work with a concentrated frown between his brows, taking care of her so sweetly. Suddenly, she stops him in his movements by grabbing his arm and stilling it, her fingers curling around his bicep.

She's already feeling much better now, thanks to him.

He finds her eyes, smiling softly when they meet, and after a few seconds of getting lost in each other's gaze, she gets up on her tiptoes to kiss him again, fiercely, already missing the taste of his lips on hers, walking towards the bed without letting go of the other.

(The next morning, as they wake up entangled in each other's arms, the bliss of the previous night still coursing through their veins, they decide it's better if they keep things 'light and breezy' between them and don't tell anyone about their little dalliance until they figure out what they are. Their supposedly secret relationship doesn't last long, though, when only a few minutes later Charles and Rosa, who've been working undercover as some of the hotel's staff the whole week to keep each other updated on the case, walk into them still naked under the covers and curled up in bed.

"Oh my god, Rosa, is this a dream?! Pinch me, I need to know if I'm dreaming." Charles lets out a loud shocked gasp at the sight, stopping still in his tracks when his eyes lay on the pair, grabbing Rosa's arm as his gaze wanders between his two colleagues' forms, unable to look away.

Rosa just rolls her eyes, though can't hide a small smile too, before she very happily obliges to his request and leads him outside, the older detective letting out a cry in pain.

"We'll come back in ten minutes…"

Left alone, Jake and Amy exchange first a horrified look, soon turned into a burst of laughter.

"Screw the rules?" he offers with an amused raise of his eyebrows, and she nods in return.

"Screw the rules." Before she kisses him.)


	78. Kiss Me too Fiercely, Hold Me too Tight

Jake nervously watches as a crowd of terrified people hurries out of the building, his weary, panicked eyes scanning the scene in search of one particular face among them all.

There are members of different police departments all around him giving instructions to their peers through their walkies or asking for ambulances to get ready to take charge of this horde of newly freed hostages and a police line preventing him from getting any closer despite the badge around his neck, and he can feel the heavy atmosphere weighing in the air with whispered worries.

It doesn't make sense, after five days of taking them prisoners, to let go of the _one_ reason why no one tried to intervene in the middle of what had quickly become a new historical heist. _Unless…_

Unless the robbers are finally going out, having achieved whatever they came to do here in the first place.

His heart is racing in his chest, to the point that he can hear it resonate in his ears as he sees more and more victims coming his way and less and less leaving the building, and there's still no trace of _her_. The fear starts building up – he doesn't want to think about the worst, not _yet_ , but still, he can't retain the thought from lingering into his mind.

 _What if they're keeping her as leverage, to trade her in case something goes wrong with their escape, having no qualm in doing so knowing she's a cop – even though, according to Gina, their assailants aren't aware of that fact?_

Two whole days have passed since the woman went out herself. Forty-eight hours during which who knows what might have happened in that hell of a place, especially if they learned _she_ was the one who managed to help some hostages leave and only decided not to follow them to protect the remaining ones and maybe even find a way to take the criminals down from the inside – or at least make it easier for her colleagues to put an end to this insanity of a heist.

He loves how brave his wife is, and how much she takes her job at heart, and he's _so proud_ of her for making such a decision, but he has to admit, when he saw his friend and a few other strangers unexpectedly appear in the middle of the night, shouting _not to shoot, they're hostages_ , and he didn't get a glimpse of _her_ , he wished for a second there that he had married a coward who would have simply left without thinking despite being a Sergeant – even if off duty. But she isn't – and, frankly, in most times, he loves her for it.

Now though, he just hopes he won't have to relive this moment of learning she's staying in again as _everyone_ else seems to be getting out.

He tries to focus on Gina's words about the situation, on how she told them they didn't seem to want to hurt anyone – physically, that is. Because for sure most of the hostages will need some psychological assistance following such an event – it's easy to read in the different pair of eyes his gaze meets as he's looking for _hers_ how traumatized these people seem to be from what they've been through.

(It's better if he doesn't think too much about what he'll read in _hers_ when he finally finds her.)

Unable to wait much longer, he stops the next person passing by him. "Excuse me, I'm looking for someone," he calls them out, his voice hoarse and shaking a little. "A woman – dark hair, brown eyes? Amy Santiago–…" He pauses, hesitant, not really knowing if she'd give her full identity to these people, before he adds, "– Peralta."

The person's eyes, who looked confused at first, suddenly lit up at the mention of the name.

"Do you know her?"

"Amy? Of course I know her," they answer as if it's obvious they do. "She's a heroine to us all inside, helping us not completely lose it in there. You must be Jake, right? I'd say you're a lucky guy to have her, but she's apparently just as lucky to have you."

There's a softness in the way they talk about his wife and _him_ , as if she shared some stories about him – _them_ together, even – during their time locked up together that, in another time, during a much less stressful situation, would have warmed Jake's heart – but right now, as there's still no trace of her anywhere, he can't linger into that, another single thought going through his mind.

"Have you seen her?!"

The stranger turns around, pointing behind them. "She wanted to be the last one to get out – y'know, making sure nobody was left behind. I'm sure she'll be out soon." Despite it all, the person manages a small smile at him, which calms him down a little, thanking them for their help and showing them the way towards the ambulances before putting his whole attention back on the building in front of him.

He doesn't know for how much longer he waits – probably, _realistically_ , only a few seconds, barely a full minute. But for Jake, it feels like an eternity before _she_ finally emerges from the exit door, an old lady by her side, helping her carefully go down the stairs and most likely telling her some encouraging words as he can see her lips move from afar and her hand gently stroke this woman's back.

The feeling that overcomes him when he gets sight of her is indescribable, letting out a long, relieved sigh, as if he's been holding his breath until then.

She doesn't see him right away, too focused on helping that woman, despite the small glances she sometimes throws at all the people gathered in front of her, and it becomes almost impossible for Jake to stay behind like he has to, waiting for her to let go of this other hostage and rush towards her to _feel_ her against him, both safe and whole again inside a warm embrace.

All he can do is watch in the meantime, studying her form and every move – she looks tired, and in need of a hot relaxing shower but, other than that, she thankfully doesn't seem physically injured.

Eventually, she leaves the old lady to the good care of the medical personnel there, refusing to let them check her too, her eyes now scanning the place in the same way _his_ did from the moment the first hostage got out. Contrary to him, though, she's quick to notice him in the crowd, and even quicker to reach his side, meeting him halfway, his own legs having apparently decided to run towards her as well.

The second they're facing each other, his hands come framing her face, his lips finding hers in a searing exchange. She holds onto him, her nails digging slightly in the skin of his back over his clothes.

"You're alright?" he gently asks, stroking her hair when they part, putting a loose strand back behind her ear, his eyes scanning her every expression with seriousness.

She simply nods and hums in return before burying herself into his body, hiding her head in the crook of his neck, letting out a sigh as she wraps her arms around his neck to keep him close, and his own find their rightful place at her waist, pulling her tight too.

As he does so, Jake is reminded of another time and how Amy rushed into his arms and kissed him breathlessly when he found himself in a similar – yet so different still – situation, how worried she'd been about his life in just a few hours of being locked up. He remembers the words stuck in the back of his throat, later when they were curled up in bed, discussing with emotion the events of the night – how he didn't want the first time acknowledging his feelings for her happening like that, with her possibly thinking they came out of fear of losing each other.

He doesn't keep them in, this time.

"I love you so much," he whispers in her ear, a single tear passing the barrier of his eye, finishing its course in her hair. "So, _so_ much." His grip around her back tightens a little with each new word he lets out. "More than anything." He doesn't care if he sounds corny – that's the truth. There's nothing in this world he loves more than Amy Santiago-Peralta, and nothing he will love more than her.

(Their children, when they have some, will come equal.)

She reluctantly draws away from his embrace, only to be able to watch him in the eyes as she speaks. "I love you more than anything too," she says, a small smile shyly curling up the sides of her mouth that soon gets matched with one of his own. She knows this is not over, that statements and tracking the criminals down before it's too late are awaiting her – _them_ –, but she allows herself to get lost in the moment for a while.

 _She deserves it,_ she thinks as she buries herself between her husband's arms once more, her head against his chest, listening to the beating of his heart slowly going back to normal now that she's by his side again, all safe and sound from what must have been the scariest, worst five days of her entire life. But, now, inside this embrace, she knows that she'll be just fine – because she found her right person and with him, she can handle _anything_.


	79. High School Throwbacks

**Potential spoilers for future episode 6x03, inspired by Melissa's Instagram stories.**

* * *

"Jake Peralta! Is that you?"

Jake and Amy barely have the time to enter the Detective's ex-high school gymnasium that someone is already coming towards them, taking the man in question in a tight hug, apparently happy to see him.

She watches them from the side, a small amused smile curling up the corners of her mouth. She's heard a lot of stories about her husband and Gina's time in high school, and this even before she started dating him, the two friends often reminiscing about their younger years together in front of the squad. She's seen pictures, too – still has the one she took the first time she visited Jake's childhood house saved on her phone, laptop, and even the cloud.

This is, however, a whole new step she's taking into Jake's past, getting to actually _meet_ with his old classmates. And it's pretty exciting, she has to admit, finding herself in the middle of an already very packed room filled with people who used to know her husband when his path hadn't crossed hers yet – when he was a teenager.

She remembers how, in a very original way, he told her about this 20-year high school reunion he'd been invited to and asked her to come with – how, through some elaborate plan, he made her meet him at the top of 'their' roof at 397 Barton Street, where she found herself face-to-face with a rather confusing sign and grinning husband.

 _Amy Santiago, will you go to prom with me?_

But then he handed her the invite, and she laughed and shook her head when she finally understood what was happening, before she took a step closer and sweetly kissed him, his face framed between her hands gently stroking his cheeks. After all this time, he still managed to surprise her in the best of ways.

"Jake Peralta, I'd love to go to prom with you," she whispered as she drew away, making his smile only grow wider.

"Actually," Jake's voice suddenly takes her out of her reverie when the two old friends eventually part from their embrace. "It's Jake Peralta- _Santiago_ now." He proudly corrects him, shooting a quick, knowing glance at Amy and curling her waist with his arm, inviting her to come closer to his side. "This is my wife, Amy."

They've been married for months now, but still – hearing Jake introduce her as such to someone always never fails to create goosebumps in her stomach, the realization that she's the luckiest person in the whole world for being this amazing man's _wife_ hitting her hard every time. It still feels like a dream, sometimes, and she's not so sure she'll ever get over the beauty of this fact, no matter the years passing by.

After the introductions and this new encounter letting her know that he's a former classmate of Jake's from senior year, the three of them head towards the bar, where the old friends update each other about their lives in front of a beer, having not seen each other for quite a long time. Quickly, more people come and join in the conversation, and small chatting groups start forming inside the gymnasium. Amy recognizes some of them, from pictures her husband showed her or stories he shared, or even having bumped into one or two at the mall.

Despite not being part of the school's ex-students, she easily mingles, learning embarrassing recalls of Jake and Gina's past, or asking questions about them, thoroughly taking notes to share everything with the rest of their squad later. It doesn't seem to amuse her partner as much, though, that his old friends would dare to tell her all of these shameful stories (some he didn't even remember) – but then he simply has to take a look at the woman's glowing face every time she discovers something she didn't know about him and the little loving glances she shoots at him to warm his heart and make him smile too.

He knows it's only gentle mockery, after all, and he doesn't mind being a complete open book to his wife – she already knows his deepest secrets anyway.

Still, he can't retain his sigh of relief when, once she's downed her third drink of the night, she decides she gathered enough information and joins Gina on the dancefloor, bringing other new acquaintances with her to move to the rhythm of some of the most famous hits of their teenage days. Jake is quick to tag along when he's finished his own beer, though regrets it the minute the song changes to another – _I Want it That Way_ , from the Backstreet Boys.

He recognizes the melody right away, even before the first lyrics start playing, and he can tell Amy does too from the grin that suddenly lights up her features and the glance she gives him before putting her attention back on the rest of the group they're forming with some of his former classmates. He tries to shush her before she can say anything, but she's unstoppable.

This time, it's _her_ turn to share embarrassing stories about him.

"Jake sang along to this song with a bunch of criminals at work one day," she explains, still dancing, even as she speaks. Her amused beam grows wider, remembering this scene he told her all about when it happened. "It was to identify a perp's voice, but he got so caught up in the whole thing, he forgot about it."

In that instant, Jake regrets sharing it with her, especially when she adds the part about how the brother's victim had to remind him why he started this little singing group in the first place, and everyone around lets out gasped _'oh'_ s and laughs at him. He wants to defend himself, scratching the back of his neck in nervousness, feeling his cheeks burn, but his wife cuts him before he even has the chance to open his mouth and say something.

"I'm teasing him, but he's an amazing Detective," she's surprisingly quick to add, watching him with a now very soft, though quite serious, smile. "Broke a lot of police records." He can hear the pride in her voice, see the love in her eyes, and it instantly warms up his heart, forgetting the people around them for a second when he brings her close and meets her lips in a peck.

He has to admit, his life has turned out pretty great since he graduated from high school – and not only with his job. He's got the most perfect woman by his side.

 _His dream girl._

"I'm not as amazing as she is."

They go on dancing and having fun with the others for a while, until Amy gets thirsty and they head to the bar to get new drinks, enjoying some alone moment. They barely have the time to finish their glasses that a quiet melody fills the room, encouraging couples to pair up and gather under the fading lights of the gymnasium in a romantic slow dance.

One glance is all it takes for Jake and Amy to understand each other and make their way through the crowd and find a place among the others. "You can't be my prom date and not have at least one slow dance with me," Jake teases as he wraps his arms around his wife's waist and she does the same with hers around his neck.

They first move around in complete silence, matching their pace to the music and the other's, Amy's head resting on her man's chest, both lost in their thoughts and warm embrace. That is at least until the Sergeant seems to get an idea, suddenly drawing a little away from her husband to watch him, a new mischievous glow shining in her dark eyes and a smirk curling up the corners of her mouth.

"What's going on?" Jake chuckles at the sight of her, knowing her perfectly and thus knowing she has something on her mind.

"You know what we could do? Quietly sneak out of here and go make out like horny teenagers do."

She suggestively wriggles her eyebrows, and it makes the Detective only laugh louder, taken aback by such a request – especially coming from _her_.

"You, Amy Santiago, would willingly break a _school_ 's rule?!" He mocks her, but she remains serious, simply humming and nodding in return. He doesn't need more convincing then, discreetly taking her out of the gymnasium and towards a dark, empty corridor away from the party. "This is where I used to take all of my girlfriends back in the day. A lot of nasty things happened here."

He proudly grins, but Amy doesn't seem to buy it, staring at him, waiting. She can tell when he's lying.

"Okay, _one_ girlfriend," he admits, seeing the look she's giving him. "But we made out like crazy."

His wife frowns, sure he's still exaggerating. Which is soon confirmed indeed, when Jake lets out a defeated sigh, sharing the whole _true_ story.

"Okay, her hair got stuck in my ring nose, and we got caught up by one of our teachers. She dumped me the next day. Happy?"

Amy tries not to laugh at that, biting the inside of her mouth, a very funny image of a younger version of her husband forming inside her head. To put her attention on something else, and remembering why they've come here in the first place, she pins Jake against the nearest wall, pressing her body against him, her face only a few inches away from his, eyes locked together, the effects of 4-drink Amy coursing wild in her veins.

"Such a sad story," she whispers in a seductive voice, tracing patterns on his chest with her finger, never leaving his sight. "I know how we can make up for it."

Then, without a warning, she brushes her lips against his, gently at first, before she starts kissing him more fiercely, Jake's arms hooking around her back to keep her close as he answers to her assault. If someone would have told his past-self that he somehow would end up, 20 years later, making out with the love of his life in his old high-school, he would have never believed them.

And yet here he is.

"What?"

When they finally part and Amy opens her eyes again, she's met with her husband's gaze lovingly watching her, a dreamful beam lighting up his face. It makes her smile softly, too.

"Nothing. I'm just thinking about how it would have been like, if we'd met in high school."

"We would have competed all year long to know which one of us was the best student and you would have taken me to prom on the 'worst date ever' only to end up falling deeply in love with me forever," Amy jokes, playing along, stroking her husband's hair with her hand while always watching him as she speaks.

He laughs in return. "That sounds about right. I always knew I was smarter than you, so of course I'd have won such a bet too."

"Only because I'd have been the best teacher during our previous years and helped you with your classes," the woman retorts, and Jake sees no argument to make to that, so he chooses to simply kiss her again for only answer.

(In the end, just like horny teenagers in hiding, they _do_ get caught up by one of the man's former teachers, shamefully forced back to the gymnasium and unable to stop laughing at the silliness of what happened – at least though, this time their little sneaking out didn't end up with killing anyone.)


	80. Sitting by the Fireplace

Jake slowly goes down the stairs, minding each of his steps not to wake anyone in the house, walking barefoot on the creaking wood.

The morning is so young still, he can see through the window that the moon is shining high outside, hidden behind the clouds. It's not entirely dark, though – there's snow falling down in millions of huge flakes, whitening the sky and bringing some light in. Everything is quiet around him, a surely most welcomed contrast to the bustle of the rest of the day, when all of Amy's numerous nieces and nephews are up and running, excited, around the place. Jake's never really been one for waking up early, but ever since he became a father, he's come to understand – and fully appreciate, even – the true beauty of mornings, with his precious little girl calling for her parents at hours he would have considered inconceivable in the past.

For sure, it's exhausting. More than once did he let out a desperate groan before leaving his bed when it's his turn to check on their crying baby in the middle of the night, especially after a long day at work. But, once he has his daughter all curled up against his chest, falling back to sleep with her blinking eyes stuck on him and her tiny hand gripping one of his fingers, all tiredness is quickly forgotten, replaced with a blissful feeling. He finds then that there's something really soothing about these moments – how they're the only two awaken souls in the house – the whole _building_ , probably –, the sun itself not having risen up yet either, surrounded by nothing but silence as he paces back and forth the nursery, his calm whispers and Ana's breathing, turned quieter and quieter with every second passing by, the only audible sound.

This morning, though, he's not alone. The girl's cries aren't even what woke him up so early – rather the odd absence of them, or any other possible noise as simple and quiet as her or his wife's catch of breath next to him, did. He was surprised to realize his room was empty, when he first opened his eyes, and decided to go look for his family.

He hears Amy's presence before he can see her, her humming voice resonating through the walls as he goes downstairs, mingling with the crackling sound of flames burning inside the fireplace. It's only when he enters the living room that his gaze falls upon her silhouette – she's sitting there, on a couch in front of the chimney, wearing his NYPD hoodie and an extra blanket, their daughter comfortably lying in her arms. His expression immediately softens at the sight, an endearing smile forming on his face. He stays there, watching, for a while.

She doesn't seem to have heard him coming in, her whole attention drawn onto the baby against her chest, too concentrated on singing her a lullaby to notice anything else happening around them. Jake recognizes the melody, despite not being able to make out the words – Amy's lullabies are all Spanish ones, a language he unfortunately doesn't speak (not that he never tried to learn – he actually did, once, when he started dating the love of his life, though quickly had to give up). He knows it from a darker time, when he'd wake up in the middle of the night after one of his all too vivid post-prison nightmares, and Amy helped him back to sleep this way.

Thankfully, everything's resolved now; life has taken a much joyous turn for them, and he's more than happy to hear his now _wife and mother of his child's_ singing voice again, especially on such occasion.

When she eventually falls silent, sure that Ana is deeply asleep and won't wake up for a while, she looks up, finally meeting her husband's eyes. Her face lits up immediately and a tired, though loving beam slightly curves up the corners of her mouth. Jake takes this as his cue to come closer, taking a seat by his favorite girls' side, instinctively wrapping an arm around Amy's shoulder, watching the tiny peaceful baby on her lap. _Their_ baby.

"Did we wake you up?" The woman whispers, making him look up at her.

"No. I didn't even hear her cry," he admits.

While he speaks, Jake skims his fingers over the infant's head, gently stroking her already darkening hair. "I'm sorry," he adds apologetically.

"That's okay. You looked like you needed the rest. That's why we came here – not to disturb you. And also because I was getting cold."

Jake quietly chuckles. "Yeah, your nieces and nephews are _so_ exhausting. They always want to play, never leave me alone one moment."

It's not a complaint, though. In this rented cabin, with both his and his wife's _whole_ families reunited together, he's finally having the holidays he wished for since he was a child. And, the fact that it's also his _daughter's_ first holidays makes it all the more perfect.

Amy reaches for his hand, squeezing gently, smiling back at him amusedly. "That's because they love you. You're amazing with children."

 _With babies too,_ she doesn't add but means it, and her husband can read it in her eyes, his own smile growing wider as his heart fills with warmth.

There was a time, not long before Ana's birth, when he began to wonder if he'd be able to do it – be a good dad. After all, he'd spent most of his life without one.

(And, when he was there, he wasn't the best example either.)

All it took to calm down his worries, along with Amy's soothing words, was a glance at the newborn. He knew instantly then, that he wouldn't screw things up.

He _couldn't_.

Because he loved her so much already, the simple thought of her possibly being hurt crushed his heart, and he instinctively held her closer, as if to protect her.

 _I promise I'll always be there for you._

Minutes pass, and the couple stays silent, watching over their sleeping daughter, a matching beam spread across their features and Amy's head now resting against Jake's chest, surrounded by nothing but the relaxing sound of the still burning flames inside the fireplace. They watch as the sun starts to rise, slowly flooding the room in bright light, the floor outside now completely covered in the white powder. It's only then that Amy talks again, putting an end to the quietness that had fallen upon them.

"We should take her back to bed before anyone wakes up and wake her up."

Jake nods his agreement, and both parents head back to their room, carefully laying the baby back in her crib. Again, they take a moment to stare at her, unable to draw their gazes away from her as their fingers intertwine together on their own accord. When they finally look up and exchange a glance, they can read in the other's glowing eyes the same expression of awe and _love_.

Jake's the first to make a move, his free hand coming up to cup his wife's cheek, breaking the distance between them to peck her lips before pulling back, marveling at her.

"This is the best holidays ever."

It makes her smile in return. She's about to say something, but doesn't even have the time to open her mouth that the door suddenly, though quietly, opens and a small head appears in the frame – it's one of Amy's nephews.

"Uncle Jake!" Mason calls, thankfully in a whisper. "Remember how you told us we'd get pancakes for breakfast this morning?"

He does, yes, and now regrets his promise – because it's barely 7am during the _holidays_ , but of course the youngest members of the Santiago family are already waking up. And they're excited and _hungry_.

Witnessing the scene, Amy laughs, urging him to go with a quick encouraging kiss, telling him she'll join them soon. Jake lets out a sigh, though feels as happy as he's ever been when he follows the boy downstairs, where a horde of children is impatiently waiting for him, all greeting him with huge grins and a hug.

It _is_ the best holidays indeed, he thinks, then – spent with his whole, grew _bigger_ , family.


	81. Our Love Is Made for Movie Screens

**Inspired by an ask sent to _fourdrinkamy_ on Tumblr and the little plot _amez-santiago_ added to it, who so kindly let me use it and helped me with it :)**

* * *

He meets her on a Friday evening.

Jake is quietly talking with Charles, his best friend/colleague in charge of selling the snacks, when she enters the movie theater. The sound of the door opening startles them out of their conversation – the room was empty until she arrived, and they're not expecting anyone to come in for a while still, the next screening not being supposed to start before another forty-five minutes.

They go back behind their counters, watching in silence as she approaches them. She looks around with interest, taking everything in.

It's the first time they're seeing her here, something odd enough to catch their attention – it's not often they're getting new customers. Indeed, most people who come here, in this old and rather small movie theater in Brooklyn, have been regulars for years now. Jake himself discovered the place as a child, when his father was still around and would take him out to watch movies every week.

She's about his age, or maybe a little younger, with long raven hair and brown eyes that fixate on his. Her smile is bright, growing brighter when she finally reaches his side and greets him.

It makes him smile back, just as widely, her enthusiasm somehow catching, especially when she starts talking.

"Hi! I'd like a ticket for the _Harry Potter_ screening, please."

He can easily tell, from the way she speaks, that she's a real fan of these movies – probably the whole universe around it –, and that she's excited about the idea of such a rerun they're offering at the theater.

"It'll be $10," Jake answers almost mechanically while printing out the ticket, used to doing it by now, after all this time working here. "You can't go into the room yet, though, another movie's still screening."

She thanks him and nods in return, understanding. The place fills with silence then, and the woman leaves him to go on with her first inspection of what's around her, looking at the movie posters on the walls, here to promote the next screenings of the month. Discreetly, Charles joins his colleague behind his counter again, a huge grin lighting up his features, having watched the scene happen from afar.

"This looks like the beginning of a new rom-com…" he says excitedly, which makes Jake roll his eyes.

He wants to reply with something, but can't, because all of a sudden the newcomer is drawing her attention back on them. She's still smiling, though it's shyer now – hesitant, almost.

"I've recently been transferred here," she informs them, and at first, both employees frown while exchanging a quick glance, wondering why she'd let them know of such a thing – they don't know each other, after all, and it's not an information you necessarily share with strangers like that. But she soon goes on, "How's life in New York?"

"Oh, it's great," Charles answers her, his grin back on his face. "The people, especially…" he trails off and nods in his friend's direction, who shoots him from under the counter to make him stop with his stupid innuendos and whatever he may imagine going on between him and their newest customer. It's useless, though, because she seems to take the hint, her eyes meeting Jake's with her mouth half-open.

She looks confused, and he can't help but notice how the tip of her ears have gone red, spreading down to her cheeks in a small blush.

(He can't help but find it extremely cute, too, though hastens to chase the thought away.)

"What my colleague means…" He tries to break the awkward that has fallen upon the room with a small smile. "Is that everyone here is really nice. The city's pretty dope, despite being so expensive. For sure you'll like it here."

It seems to work – hearing this makes her relax, and she even asks a few more questions about New York and Brooklyn, about what to do and where to go when living here.

It's only when people start to enter the theater and Jake and Charles are required to go back to work that she leaves them alone, not wanting to disturb them any longer, thanking them for their useful tips.

"Enjoy the movie!" the two men tell her in a same polite voice. And, as he watches her disappear among the crowd, Jake isn't able to hide his dreamy smile, which only makes Charles tease him more when he sees him.

"Shut up." He tries to shush him by sounding annoyed – there's nothing more to read here than him simply being happy they met a new person when it's so rare in this place to make encounters.

He would lie if he'd say he doesn't wish he'll get to see her again somehow, someday, though.

* * *

Jake is happily surprised to see her come back exactly a week later, still _far_ too early and seeming really enthusiastic still, for the screening of the second _Harry Potter_ movie.

It's something his boss came up with, in order to try and gain more new regular customers – to do reruns of each movie of the saga for eight weeks. And, if at the beginning Jake was rather skeptical about the idea – who would want to pay for something they've probably already seen several times and could easily watch for a cheaper price (or even for free, if they own the DVDs) at home, in the comfort of their own house? – he's now very grateful for it, as he watches her get closer to his counter, if it works with _her_ , making her enjoy the place and giving her want to come back often.

It's true they didn't exchange much the first time she came – he doesn't even know her name – but there was something very intriguing about her that immediately drew him towards her while listening to her, wanting to discover more about this new resident of his city. He feels like they truly hit off from the start, and could get along really well, would they learn to know more about one another.

"Do you think you'll come here often?" Jake asks as he prints her ticket, a question which seems to startle her when he looks up and catches a glance at her, frowning. "Sorry," he quickly apologizes, then. "That sounded a bit creepy. I just wanted to say, if you're planning on coming to see a lot of movies, you might be interested in purchasing a loyalty card. You'll be saving a lot of money."

It's only his duty, as the tickets vendor, to push his customers into buying one. He's done this hundreds of times in the past, but never before did he feel so nervous while waiting for an answer.

Because if she declines, it'll mean that sooner or later, he might never see her again.

But if, on the contrary, she accepts…

"Oh." Her face immediately softens at his words, a smile even making its way on her features, curling up the corners of her mouth. She pauses to think, only for a second. "I'd like that, please."

He catches the breath he didn't know he was holding until then, a grin of his own suddenly lighting up his face as he hands her a piece of paper. "Great. I'll just need you to write down some info first."

She takes a pen out of her purse before he has the chance to offer her one, and starts writing what's asked of her. Jake feels like an eternity passes while he waits for her to fill in everything – which is, in fact, not much more than her full name, home and email addresses and phone number –, taking her time to perfectly put everything down in a very neat and stylish handwriting.

"Y'know, at this rate, your movie will be over before you're done with this," he can't help but tease her about it. He can see her lowered head shaking and hear a little chuckle escape her mouth, and it makes him smile.

"Here." She eventually gives him back the paper with an amused smile of her own on her face. "Sorry I like to do things thoroughly," she says as she plays along with him.

Jake quickly checks that everything's in order, getting a glance at her name in the meantime – _Amy Santiago_. It's a beautiful name, that suits her well, he thinks when he looks back up at her.

* * *

"Can I ask you something?"

It's been a few weeks since Jake and Amy's encounter, during which not a Friday evening has gone by without her showing up for a new _Harry Potter_ screening. She's come by early every time, allowing the two employees and their new customer to chat for a moment before each screening, getting stuck in endless conversations, learning to know each other better along the way.

"What's up?" the woman asks with an inviting smile, her elbows on Jake's counter with her head resting on her right fisted hand, looking at him.

"What is it with you and these _Harry Potter_ movies? Why are you coming here to watch them when you could do it at home? It's not like they were new releases."

It's a question he's wanted to ask her for quite some time now, intrigued, but never dared before. He was always afraid, deep inside of him, that pointing it out to her would actually make her realize the fact, and that she'd simply stop coming altogether then, watching the rest of the movies in her apartment. He would hate that – she's grown on him, during the past weeks.

Jake already loved Fridays, before she came along. It means the end of the week and the beginning of his days off, but now he loves them even more – because it means seeing Amy and having all of these conversations with this interesting, funny woman.

"Watching them in a theater is so much more different," she doesn't have to think to give him her answer. "It actually reminds me of the first time I saw them. We are all huge fans of the books with my family – we would buy them on the day of their release and spend all of our free time reading them until we're done, to be the first of us all to finish them. Otherwise, we would always risk being spoiled by one of us about the plot. So the release of a new movie was a big event for us too. We went to see them all together, every time. And then we'd talk about it for hours after, debating about the differences between the book and the movie, complaining about changes and plot holes, and stuff like that. These are some of my best memories."

Jake listens religiously her recall of the past, unable despite himself to feel his heart break a little in his chest. He perfectly understands the nostalgia – that's what brought him here, working in this theater, after all.

The nostalgia of a time when his father still cared about him.

(His love of movies too, of course.)

"Wow, sounds like you guys knew how to have fun," he mockingly answers when she's done with her explanation, choosing not to let his mind linger too much into his own past. "To be honest, I never watched any of them," he confesses.

"You should, someday. If you liked the books you'll most likely love the movies too – they're not as good, of course, but still great adaptations."

"Oh no, I've never read the books either," he corrects, and his words seem to trigger something inside Amy, whose eyes suddenly grow bigger, watching him in shock.

"You've never read _any_ of the _Harry Potter_ books?!" she repeats, incredulous.

Jake doesn't see what's such a big deal about it – they're just books. "Hey, I could judge you too. _You_ 're the one who said you didn't like _Die Hard_ the other day, after all," he pitifully tries to defend himself.

He remembers how she startled him, back then, when they talked about their favorite cop movies during one of their usual conversations, and _Die Hard_ didn't even make her #3 list. It's also how he discovered that she's, in fact, a cop herself, and that they have a common friend, Rosa, who works with her and is the one who actually told her about the theater when she asked for an address on one of her first days at her new precinct.

"Unbelievable," Amy gasps. "You can't compare _Harry Potter_ with _Die Hard_!"

They go on with their banter for a while, so caught up in their conversation, the woman almost misses her the screening of her movie.

"What's going on between you two?" Charles approaches his colleague when he's all alone again, wriggling his eyebrows, a grin upon his face, having listened to their conversation from afar.

"Not this again, Charles," Jake complains with a sigh – ever since they first met, his best friend hasn't stopped teasing him about Amy, arguing that they're made for each other. "I already told you – I'm not interested in her. We're just friendly fooling around, nothing more."

* * *

That's what he says, at least, and what he tries to believe in. She's just nice. They're just friends.

There's no way he has a crush on her.

Really, it doesn't mean _anything_ , the fact that she manages to brighten his entire week simply by entering the little movie theater every Friday evening.

* * *

"Let me guess. You're here for the last _Harry Potter_ screening, right?" Jake greets her with a grin when she enters the theater that evening.

Amy doesn't have to ask for it anymore – the ticket's already printed, waiting for her on the counter, when she arrives. She smiles back, nodding as she hands her money and her loyalty card, but he only grabs the piece of paper from her.

Amy frowns. "I still have two movies to go before getting a free screening," she informs him.

"I know." Jake watches her, amused. "But this one's on the house, to thank you for coming to every screening. Not many people did, y'know."

Her frown grows deeper, and she tries to argue, but Jake stubbornly refuses to let her pay, no matter what she tries telling him. She's stubborn too, though a line starts forming behind her, forcing her to eventually give in.

"Next time, you better let me repay you," she says, falsely threatening him, before she leaves.

For some reason, it warms his heart to hear that. Because it means she does count to come back here, to see new movies, even when _Harry Potter_ isn't screening anymore.

And he couldn't be happier about that.

* * *

(Maybe he _does_ have a crush on her.)

* * *

From that day on, despite her arguments, Jake always lets Amy go in for free. "Ask Rosa, I do that with all of my friends," he explains himself with a grin before refusing to take her money.

And, even though she's glad to hear he considers her his friend, she still feels bad about it, and is afraid he's gonna get in trouble because of her at some point, but he always finds pretty convincing excuses for her not to pay for her ticket. She promises herself she'll give him the money back someday, then – she simply doesn't know how, nor when, yet.

* * *

One day, though, he can't offer her the ticket, like he's got used to doing along the weeks. He can't, because she's with _someone_. As in, on a date.

His heart sinks when he sees them both enter the theater, holding hands, laughing together. She's smiling broadly when she reaches his counter, and introduces the man accompanying her to Jake and Charles.

Luke is his name, and _he_ is the one who pays for both tickets, before directly heading towards the still closed doors of the screening room. Jake watches them talk from afar, his chest hurting at the thought that he won't be able to have a chat with Amy before the following week, already missing it – and _her_.

* * *

He _definitely_ has a crush on her.

* * *

Thankfully, the following week, she's all alone again.

"You left your boyfriend behind this time?" Jake casually, teasingly asks – or at least _tries_ to pass it as a joke, despite what the thought of her possibly being in a relationship makes him feel.

He's thought about it a lot, during the past week – about how seeing her with someone else made him realize he _liked_ her, as in _wanting for something romantic-stylez to happen between the two of them_ , and how he decided to let her know about it.

He just hopes he's not too late, that she's already found happiness in that other guy's name.

Amy grimaces at his question, and lets out a sigh. "Don't call him my boyfriend. He was just a guy my best friend set me up with, but it didn't work out in the end." There seems to be more to the story than what she tells him – something very upsetting, from the way she frowns while talking about the man. Jake doesn't try to push her into sharing if she doesn't want to, and doesn't have to anyway – after a short pause, she speaks again.

"Actually, it _really_ wasn't a good date. I can't believe he managed to ruin my best part of the week like that."

Despite her words, and feeling bad for her, Jake can't help a grin from forming on his mouth.

" _This_ is your best part of the week?" He innocently asks, and can see how she starts blushing despite herself when she looks up to meet his eyes.

(He still finds it as adorable as the first time he saw her.)

"Don't flatter yourself, Peralta," she replies with a chuckle. "Going to the theater _is_ the best part of my week. I love going to see movies. Nothing to do with you."

She smiles at him, something daring shining in her gaze. Jake pretends to be hurt by her words, putting a hand over his heart, mouth half-open. "I feel betrayed," he says dramatically, and it makes her roll her eyes, though she laughs again.

He loves the sound of her laugh. Most of all, he loves that it seems he's become pretty good at making her laugh.

Suddenly, though, Amy falls serious again. She starts telling Jake all about her date, and what went wrong with him. He listens quietly, sensing she needs to rant with someone and obviously wanting to be there for her. When she's done and he tries to reassure her, their conversation turns into talking about the worst dates they've ever had, taking a thankfully brighter side now, mocking them and each other.

Time passes without them seeing it – it's a quiet Friday evening at the theater; they're not disturbed by any customer, Charles taking care of the few wandering souls coming to see a movie that night, to leave the two friends some privacy.

It's only when his colleague starts to clean his counter that Jake realizes then, letting out a loud gasp. "Amy! I'm so sorry, I made you miss your movie! Seems like you can add _me_ to the list of guys who ruined your best part of the week, now…" He tries to crack a joke, though truly feels guilty about preventing her from doing what she came here for in the first place.

She doesn't seem to mind, though – simply smiles at him in return. "Nah, it's okay. I still had a pretty good night. Thanks for letting me rant with you."

"Anytime," Jake answers, reassured. A beat passes, then, during which none of them talk, not knowing what to say next but not wanting to leave the other yet either, watching each other awkwardly.

Finally, Jake is the one who takes the floor, nervously playing with his hands as he speaks. "I still feel bad, though. Maybe I can repay you by taking you to see it again tomorrow? I don't work on the weekends."

It makes Amy smile.

"I'd like that."

(From afar, Charles can't retain his squeal of joy, moving his hands in the air in victory – he's been hoping for that moment to come for so long.)

* * *

It's 7 pm sharp when Jake comes to pick Amy up at the address she gave him the previous night. The movie they're going to see isn't starting before 9, but they decided they'd eat together before the screening so that they can spend a little more time together and actually _talk_. Even if they've known each other for weeks now, and never lacked conversations before, it still feels weird, at first, to be on a date like this, just the two of them, outside Jake's workplace.

All awkwardness is all forgotten after they choose to down a few shots (four each, to be quite exact), helping them open up more, ending up laughing and having a lot of fun. By the time they finish dinner and they have to pay the bill, nothing feels weird between them anymore – on the contrary, they seem unable to keep their hands off the other now, Amy's arm hooked with Jake's, holding onto him as they walk towards the counter.

When she sees him take out his credit card, she stops him, a severe look on her face. "Don't you even dare try and pay for that," she warns him, and he frowns, confused. "With all the times you let me go see a movie for free, now's my turn to invite you back." Jake doesn't try to argue; he simply smiles in return, hardly believing that he's really here, with this smart, beautiful, awesome woman by his side.

"Can we skip the movie part and directly head back to your place?" Amy asks when they're out of the restaurant and she stops him in their walk towards the movie theater, getting closer to him with her head only a few inches from his and their lips almost brushing while she plays with the collar of his jacket, watching him with a new fire in her eyes and a mischievous grin, having something in mind.

(He doesn't know that yet, is about to discover it, but 4-drink Amy is a little bit of a pervert.)

"I thought the whole point of us going out tonight was for me to repay you for making you miss your movie yesterday?" he chuckles in answer, though he can feel his body warming up at her touch.

"I think we both know this was just an excuse for you to _finally_ asking me out on a date," she replies. Her spontaneity makes Jake laugh – he can't think of anything to say to counter that.

For only answer, then, he breaks the little distance remaining between their two bodies, and places his lips against hers, a kiss to which she doesn't wait to fiercely answer.


	82. I Promise, I'll Do Better

It's a strange feeling, what takes over Jake's heart when he passes the front door at his childhood house and sees his daughter comfortably sitting in his own father's lap, who's apparently trying to teach her how to play the piano.

It's a combination of the same pure bliss that always overwhelms him every time he's with his daughter – especially in a moment like this, when she's all smiles and enthusiasm – mixed with, he has to admit, a little sorrow that comes with the painful thought that in his own time, his father never cared to teach _him_ this.

He didn't even know, until a few years back, when they invited the Santiagos over for Thanksgiving for the first time, that the man had any interest in music.

And, if it already hurt back then, it still stings now.

Truth to be told, he doesn't think he'll ever be completely _okay_ with what his father did, even with his own new family that completes him perfectly.

Roger screwed up, and he screwed up _bad_.

Don't get him wrong, though – despite their complicated (to say the least) past, Jake's thrilled to see that Roger is doing an effort at being there for his granddaughter. In fact, he's the one who threatened him, before he let him into the hospital room to meet the newborn for the very first time.

He'd known her for a few hours only, but already felt overprotective.

"You're either in or you're out. There's no in-between." Jake stopped his father in front of the door by putting a hand on his chest, warning him. "So, if you pass that door, it means you're in until the end. I don't want to have to tell her one day that her 'Grampa Roger' has left and I don't know when – or _if_ – he'll ever be back. I won't let you ruin her life. She already has three grandfathers who I know will love and cherish her the way she deserves. If you can't offer her the same, I'll have to ask you to leave right now."

It's been a little more than three years since Roger apologized again and made a promise he wouldn't do the same mistakes as he did and, as shows the scene currently happening in front of Jake, he's thankfully keeping it still.

A hand on his shoulder, gently grabbing it, brings Jake out of his wandering thoughts and mixed emotions. When he turns his gaze towards its owner, he meets his wife's, a compassionate look shining in her eyes. He doesn't have to tell for her to get what's going on in his mind, all his conflicted feelings. She already knows, and is the greatest support he could ask.

 _(His dream girl.)_

He offers her a knowing, loving smile that soon replicates upon her own lips.

But, before they can say anything, their daughter, who was so excited about her lesson she didn't even hear her parents coming in until then, finally notices them. It doesn't take long for her to abandon her seat in front of the piano then, and rush in their direction, jumping into her mother's opened arms.

"Mommy! Daddy! You're here!" she exclaims.

She hugs them both while Roger greets them more discreetly, and starts rambling about the afternoon she spent at her grandparents' – she tells them all about the cake Grandma Karen baked for their 4 o'clock snack, the painting they made in the meantime and, finally, the piano lesson with Grampa Roger they interrupted. It's easy to read on her face and in her voice that she's had a great time at her father's family house, and it's really all it takes to make Jake and Amy happy – knowing that their daughter is.

Even more so when she seems to suddenly remember something, something apparently important, as she runs into another room before she comes back just as quickly with something in her hands, hiding it behind her back.

" _SURPRISE!"_ She enthusiastically, and very proudly, offers each of them a drawing she made during the day with her grandmother.

Touched by the thought, after examining the piece of paper for a few seconds, her parents' exchange a knowing look, then put their whole attention back on the little girl, who's not-so-patiently waiting for their reaction to her gift, bouncing on her feet with a huge grin lighting up her small features. Lowering down to her level, Jake wraps his arms around her body, holding back a few tears.

(He tends to get easily emotional, when it comes to his daughter. She's the best thing that has ever happened to him, after all – along with his wife, obviously.

They're his own, chosen, _happy_ family.)

While still hugging her, he gets a glimpse at his father, watching the scene from afar, giving them some space. On instinct, Jake holds the child tighter, before he finally slightly draws away from her so that he can put his eyes back on hers.

"Awww, it's so beautiful, Ananas. Thank you," he tells her, meaning it, which makes said Ana's smile only grow wider, showing her small dimples, something resembling her father's own facial expression.

Behind them, this sweet father-daughter moment makes Amy smile too.

"I love it," he then adds, with just as much sincerity. "And I love _you_. So much." He softly strokes her curly raven hair – she definitely looks _a lot_ like him.

"I love you too, Daddy," she doesn't waste any second to answer, burying herself into his arms once again, warming his heart.

And, stuck in this embrace, he can't help but think that though he might not have had the best father, he definitely has the best daughter he could have asked for. He already promised after her birth, but promises again, that he'll always do anything in his power to offer her (and her hopefully future siblings) the best life he can – a life full of _love_ and _happiness_.

A life where she never has to be on her own.


	83. You're My Most Shining Star

When the doors of the elevator pop open and Amy enters the bullpen, she's surprised to find there's someone sitting at her desk, stuck in a vivid conversation with her new partner.

The man seems to have made himself comfortable on her chair, with the back of it pushed back, and his legs fully stretched in front of him with his feet crossed. She frowns as she gets closer to the pair, ready to shove the intruder off _her_ working space, but suddenly freezes when she recognizes him.

"Jake?" she calls his name. "What are you doing here?"

He's the last person she expected to encounter today – actually, she didn't even think she would cross his path ever again after they parted ways a few months ago; he's always so busy, with his job.

Jake turns the chair around to face her, shooting her a bright smile as soon as he meets her eyes. He really seems thrilled to see her, and she must be too, given how her heart momentarily stops in her chest at the sight.

He opens his mouth, ready to say something, but is beaten at it by Amy's colleague, whose gaze, shining with excitement, won't stop wandering back and forth between the two people in pure disbelief.

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold on a sec. You, Amy Santiago, know Jake Peralta? _The_ Jake Peralta?! Lead actor on the best sitcom on the air right now, winner of two Golden Globes and an Emmy, and now star of what critics are already calling the next best cop movies franchise ever made when it hasn't even been released yet?!" he proudly enunciates key moments in one of his favorite artists' career, which makes the concerned man chuckle with amusement.

She, on the other hand, doesn't feel so amused. For only answer, she lets out an annoyed sigh – she's tired of everyone reacting the exact same way every time they find out about her 'relationship' with the famous movie star, flooding her with questions about him and how he is 'in real life.'

"We actually worked together during the shooting of his last movie," she eventually tells her partner. "He followed me around a bit, so that he could learn more about what it's like to be a _real_ Detective."

Her expression softens and a small dreamy smile slowly spreads across her lips, reminiscing the moment. She felt very excited about this new mission, when she was first told about it – not really because it meant she was going to work with a celebrity, but mostly because of all the people inside the precinct he could have asked, her boss trusted _her_ with it.

"Damn, I wish I was working here already at the time," her colleague says. It's more like a comment he makes to himself while getting lost in his thoughts, probably imagining _himself_ in Amy's shoes.

She shakes her head but doesn't respond, choosing instead to focus back on Jake. "So, what are you doing here?" she repeats her question.

"It's good to see you again too," he jokes before suddenly falling serious. "Is there somewhere private we could talk?"

He lowers his voice, discreetly nodding in the other Detective's direction, who's intently watching them, apparently back from his reverie.

"Come with me."

Amy leads him down to the empty evidence room. She locks the door then turns around, her arms crossed over her chest, looking Jake straight in the eye, waiting for him to talk to her.

As she stares at him, she can sense he's nervous, playing with his hands while barely meeting her gaze, and it makes her frown in confusion.

Usually, he's a really confident man – she's come to learn about him a lot, during the few months they spent working together.

"What's up?" She breaks the silence that has fallen upon them to help him get out of his muteness.

"Well…" He finally starts, gulping before he goes on. "As you may know, the premiere of my movie is tomorrow, and…" He pauses to take a deep breath and look up at her, his eyes on hers.

She offers him an inviting smile, despite not really understanding where he's heading with his speech.

"I was wondering if you'd like to come with me." He blurts it all out at once. As soon as he's done talking, he averts his gaze, unable to keep it on her for too long.

"Oh," Amy interjects, not knowing what to say – she's taken off guard, completely startled by such an unexpected invitation. Her arms fall back down her sides. She feels her heart pounding in her chest, and her ears burn in the beginning of a blush that quickly spreads down to her cheeks and neck.

"Why would you want _me_ to go to your premiere with you? I don't really fit in this world…" She seems confused and hesitant.

"Because the movie wouldn't be the way it is without you – _I_ wouldn't have acted the way I did in it without you. You might not appear on screen, but you definitely have as important a part in it as me or anybody else that worked on it. Plus it's been a while since last time we saw each other, and… it could be a good way for us to spend some time together and catch up?"

Again, Amy's heart sinks as her face softens, touched by the man's words. He definitely has a point – a few months have passed since their last encounter, and she'd be lying if she'd say she doesn't miss him. Even if at first, the actor's childish behavior tended to annoy her a lot, with time she managed to see other parts of his personality and, by the end of their time working together, he definitely grew on her.

To the point that she now can even call him a _friend_.

(More than that, perhaps, if she's true to herself and agrees with whom has since become her _ex_ -boyfriend. _It's because of Jake._ )

Nevertheless, she still seems unsure about such a night out being a good idea. "What about Sophia? Aren't you guys supposed to be together? Why aren't you going with her?" she asks what's bothering her.

Hearing his co-star's name, Jake frowns – _he_ 's the confused one, now. "Where did you hear about that?"

"In a magazine," Amy confesses.

Despite the situation, this answer actually makes him laugh. "I thought you didn't read those, found them dumb?" He teases her, grinning, as he remembers one of their past conversations.

She growls, though can't retain a light chuckle. "I still think they're useless. But I saw pictures of you guys kissing all over them as I went groceries, and figured you were dating."

"Ugh, damn the paparazzi."

He then adds, more seriously, watching Amy dead in the eye, "Anyways, we did date for a while but she dumped me."

He doesn't say more, not wanting to dwell further on the topic. Especially not with _her_.

Indeed, he's not too keen on talking exes with a woman he actually has feelings for. He might have kept them for himself before, because she was dating someone herself and he didn't want to come between them, but he knows for a fact that she's single now and he well intends to take his chance while he still has one, after weeks of considering asking her out – and chickening out several times.

Tonight, however, he's not. The premiere of the movie that made their paths cross these months ago is the perfect occasion.

"So, what do you say?" He refocuses the conversation back to its main subject. "It's gonna be _toit_ ," he assures, trying to convince her to come.

Amy contemplates his offer for a few more seconds – she's not so sure a movie premiere is where she'll find herself the most at ease. But Jake seems really excited about the idea of her coming with him, and she'd definitely like to spend more time with him too. Plus, after him discovering _her_ world, maybe it's time _she_ steps into his as well – as a way to better know him.

"Okay," she eventually agrees.

"Okay?" he repeats, just to be sure he heard it right, though a bright smile is already curling up the corners of his mouth.

"Mmmhmm." She nods, a same expression spreading across her face.

Jake's smile grows into a full grin now. "Perfect. I'll pick you up at 8, then?"

"That's fine with me."

No matter how much she'd like to continue talking with him, Amy still has a lot of work to do and has already left her desk long enough. That's what she gently explains to Jake, who excuses himself for taking up her time and tells her he's leaving now – he also has a tight schedule for the rest of the day anyway.

"See you this weekend," she says before they part for good.

"I'm looking forward to it," Jake sincerely answers, then disappears behind the elevator's doors.

And, as she watches him leave before going her own way too, Amy can't help but tuck her hair behind both her ears, at the same time.

* * *

"Wow, Ames."

When the woman opens her door to him that Saturday night and appears in front of his eyes, Jake is at a loss of words for a moment, staring at her in awe. She's wearing a red dress that suits her perfectly, and more make-up than she usually did at work or the few times they hung out at _Shaw_ 's to celebrate closing a case or just to relax a little after a long day – she even put on some lipstick for the occasion.

She looks absolutely _amazing_ tonight, he can't help but think. Not that he didn't already found her beautiful, before, obviously.

She's always astonished him, but this is a side of her he's never got to see before – and he likes it. _A lot._

"Is this too much?" Amy wonders, suddenly very self-conscious and second-guessing her choice while starting to blush at her friend's comment and his deep gaze on her. "I tried to read about the most appropriate dress code for a movie premiere and asked my nephew for make-up advice but I don't know if I should have trusted her…"

She pauses before adding in a whisper, like she's making a confession, "She's so _sexual_."

It makes Jake laugh, though he quickly becomes serious again. "Don't worry. You look great." He smiles at her, reassuring and sincere, and it's all it takes for Amy to definitely relax.

"Thank you."

They exchange a few more casualties, Jake updating Amy about the night's schedule, until they have to leave the apartment and head towards the man's car to join the venue.

"I should warn you," Jake says as he drives, his eyes stuck on the road and his grip tightening on the wheel while he speaks. "During the interviews, people most likely will assume that we're, like… a thing – _romantic-stylez_. Y'know, since we're coming together." He shoots a quick glance at Amy to gauge her reaction – her eyes widen and her mouth opens, but no word comes out of it, trying to let this new piece of information sink into her mind. He can sense it's making her freak out a little.

Maybe he should have let her know earlier, he realizes then.

"Don't worry, I'll refute it and tell them who you are, obviously," he quickly adds in order to calm her fears down – which thankfully seems to work, as he can see the tension in her shoulder slowly disappear.

She even manages a shy smile in his direction.

After that, the ride remains silent for a moment, until Amy breaks it. "What if they don't buy it?" she asks, worry easily recognizable in her voice. His words did _not_ help her relax, finally, Jake thinks. "What if the rumor spreads that we're together, and my face is put on magazines or the Internet, and creepy fans start stopping me in the streets to tell me how much they hate because I'm dating you?"

They're at a red light when she stops talking, allowing Jake to turn to fully face her as he answers.

"First, my fans aren't _that_ creepy," he says, feeling somehow offended, as if it's him she insulted with her comment. "They'd never do such a thing. And second, if they don't buy it and somehow a rumor about us dating gets out, I'll just write something on social media that it's not true and people shouldn't trust everything they read somewhere, and it'll be over."

He shrugs, as if things were that simple, though goes on after a short pause, "But if you don't feel like coming anymore, I can bring you back home, and we'll re-schedule our night out. I'd understand."

There's no hint of pettiness in his voice – he truly means it. Of course, he'd be a little disappointed if their plans were getting canceled over this but the last thing he wants is for Amy to feel uncomfortable.

"No, no, no, I'm sorry." She shakes her head, denying his offer, closing her eyes for a second while taking a deep breath, before she puts her gaze back on Jake. "I'm overthinking it, I know. It's just… it's– it's an important night for you tonight, and… I don't want to embarrass you while we're there. It's your world, and I don't know anything about it, and–…"

"Hey." Jake cuts her in the middle of her ramblings, taking a hand off the wheel to grab hers and gently squeeze it in his. For a second her eyes get stuck on their intertwined fingers before she forces herself to look back up at the man next to her, who goes on speaking in a very soft and sincere tone. "You're not gonna embarrass me. If anything, people will get jealous to see _me_ with someone as amazing as you are. Certainly _not_ the other way around."

At that, Amy's lips curl up a little and her heart misses a beat as she shoots another quick glance at their still holding hands.

"And well, if you _do_ end up embarrassing me – which, again, you _won't_ – well, I guess it'll only make us even then. Because I'm pretty sure _I_ embarrassed _you_ a lot when I accompanied you on your cases. More than once during these months we spent together," he jokes and this time, she actually lets out a laugh – it sounds like music to Jake's ears, happy to see her finally starting to relax.

"You're right. The way you acted during that robbery case in this electronics store, playing with stuff and especially that _nanny cam_ while I was trying to take the owner's statement was pretty embarrassing," she teases him, making him laugh along with her.

"I definitely solved, like, 90% of that case, though. Well, me and Fuzzy Cuddle Bear." Jake grins.

Amy simple rolls her eyes, faking annoyance, though in her chest her heart starts racing – she missed this, she has to admit.

Their banter. Spending time with Jake.

"You really believe dating an actor is as much a burden as you described?" he asks some moment later, curious, when they've both fallen quiet again.

Amy, who had turned her head away from him to look through the window and the New York streets passing by them in the dark of the night, puts her attention back on Jake. She seems a little hesitant.

"Well, I'm sure there are plenty of advantages to it," she begins – Jake can sense a 'but' is coming. "But," _there it is,_ "It must be really hard too. Especially if you're not from the industry as well.

That's why I have this one rule – never date a celebrity of any kind."

His heart drops and, just like that, he feels like his whole world stopped turning with these few words.

"Nor a cop," she goes on, not seeming to catch the change in the man's attitude.

Somehow, this new comment makes Jake frown, and for a second he forgets about the crushing blow she just threw at him without knowing.

"Wasn't your last relationship with a cop?" he asks, hopeful – maybe, just like with every rule, there are exceptions to hers, after all.

"Yes. That's where this rule comes from – the breakup was too messy, I don't want to live that ever again." Amy lets out a desperate sigh.

A beat passes, until Jake finally forces a laugh, trying to regain composure and hide the pain he's currently feeling. "Well, that's funny, I have the opposite rule. I only date actors. I find it easier."

It's a lie, obviously.

Amy opens her mouth, as if she wants to say something, but eventually decides against it. She stares at her friend's side for a while, who's concentrating on the road ahead, before she puts her attention back on what's happening through her window, getting lost in her thoughts. The end of the ride is spent in complete silence – it's only when they get out of the car that Jake and Amy start talking again, or at least try to, when they're not blinded by the photographer's cameras or interrupted in their conversations by people greeting them as they walk along the red carpet towards the entrance of the movie theater.

"Who's this woman you brought with you? Is this your new girlfriend?" A journalist stops them in their tracks, putting a mic in front of Jake's face and nodding into Amy's direction.

He shoots his friend a quick glance, offering her a small, reassuring smile – _everything's gonna be alright_ – before answering. "No, she is not. This is Detective Amy Santiago, from the ninety-ninth precinct," he calmly, very seriously introduces her. "I followed her around at her job while we were shooting the movie so that I could get a real view of what a cop does. My character is partially based on her."

It's a little weird, for Amy, too see Jake like this – acting really professionally. It's pleasant, too. She's glad she didn't turn his invitation down and finally gets to see him in an environment that he knows so well.

"Aww. You must be excited for her to see your performance, then?"

He shoots his friend another glance, offers her another smile. Actually, he keeps his eyes on her the whole time he gives his reply.

"Very. A little scared she'll think I did a bad job, too," he chuckles, then his face turns serious again. "You know, there's no one else's opinion who I care about more than hers, so…"

He falls silent, and beside him Amy stares at him with her mouth half-open, overwhelmed by all kind of emotions following this confession. But soon Jake realizes what he just said and, nervously scratching the back of his neck, he suddenly feels the urge to clarify, averting his gaze from the woman, "… About the movie, I mean, of course."

He manages a look at Amy, who now seems completely lost in her thoughts.

"Well, thank you for your answers. Enjoy the premiere!"

The journalist brings them back to the reality of where they are and disappears into the crowd as quickly as she appeared, already interviewing another of the stars of the night.

"See?" Jake says when they're finally inside the theater and taking their designated seats after dealing with several almost similar interviews and a few photoshoots on the red carpet for the actor. "Told you everything would be alright and everyone would believe we're not together."

"Yeah, I guess you were right," Amy smiles at him.

"What? Did I hear it well? I think you should repeat that again, just to be sure," he mocks.

"Shut up."

Despite the laugh that escapes her mouth, Amy lightly punches Jake in the side, shaking her head in fake annoyance. They go on teasing each other for a while, until the lights suddenly go down, making everyone turn silent at once while bringing the whole room into darkness, and the opening credits of the movie appear on the big screen soon after.

Even though she's never actually been on set, Amy knows a lot about the plot already, Jake having told her about it often during their time working together, asking for advice about one scene or another. One thing she wasn't aware, though, is of the addition of a love story to the rest of the action, between the actor's character and his co-star, playing his partner and, apparently, _wife_.

She's startled then, taken off guard, when the movie starts with a scene of the two curled up in bed, exchanging kisses as they wake up to the sound of their alarm.

For some reason, Amy finds herself looking away when things start heating up a little on the screen in front of her, feeling uneasy and her heart clenching in her chest. It's silly, she knows, what takes over her mind at that moment – this sort of jealousy towards a relationship that isn't even real combined with the burning desire to be this woman, and be able to learn what Jake's lips taste like against hers.

 _Damn, she's screwed._

Despite all her efforts to talk herself back to her senses, she can't bring herself to put these thoughts away from her head.

She can feel Jake uncomfortably fidgetting in his seat beside her, and she meets his shining gaze in the dark of the theater for a split second when she sneaks a glance at him, disturbing her even more.

Thankfully, the couple's morning sexy times is quickly interrupted by a call requesting them to head to their precinct _right now_ , some important case having come up.

The rest of the movie doesn't seem to focus too much on the two partner's love story, interested more in the action and building up suspense around the new case, allowing Amy to relax into her seat. She relaxes so much, even, that, in the middle of the movie, while Jake's character is detained somewhere and his whole team is searching for ways to find and save him, she starts dozing off.

Without realizing it, she lets her head fall into the crook of Jake's neck, making him draw his attention away from the screen to look at her, a small smile spreading across his face.

He should feel offended that she'd fall asleep like this, meaning she finds the story boring, but he can't bring himself to be disappointed when she looks so peaceful and adorable, trusting him enough to allow herself into his personal space when she's at her most vulnerable. He doesn't know how long he remains staring at her with his heart pounding in his chest, completely forgetting about the movie and the people around them for a while – it must be for long, though, because next thing he knows the lights are put on again, and Amy lets out a little groan, pulling her face further into his shoulder to hide from them before she opens her eyes and eventually straightens up. It takes her a few seconds to remember where she is, and who's accompanying her – or, rather, who _she_ is accompanying.

Guilt takes over her when her memory strikes back in – she fell asleep during the premiere of Jake's movie, event he invited her to come to with him.

 _You know, there's no one else's opinion who I care about more than hers…_ His words from earlier skyrocket back to her mind, and she feels even worse than better. What a terrible friend she's being, right now.

Thankfully, the man doesn't make any comment about it, simply asks her with an amused smile if she wants to skip the cocktail party and go home.

"No, I'm okay, don't worry," she sheepishly answers – though she's in fact exhausted, she won't screw Jake's big night more than she already did. "I could definitely use a drink and something to eat."

They don't have the occasion to exchange much more words after that, with everyone coming to congratulate Jake on his amazing performance or discuss some parts of the movie's plot.

"Jakey!" A voice suddenly startles them out of a conversation with another movie star as a man approaches them, wearing a huge, excited grin. "Your movie was amazing," the man doesn't wait to say once he reaches their sides. "Your performance was so great – as always, you definitely stole the show. You're the best, Jakey."

"Thanks, Charles." Jake humbly takes all these compliments, before turning towards Amy. "Amy, this is Charles Boyle, my co-star on _Bach Boys_."

"And his best friend," Charles quickly adds.

"And my best friend," Jake confirms. "Charles, this is Detective Amy Santiago, who helped me on my movie."

Hearing that, the man lets out a squeal, his eyes now wandering back and forth between Jake and Amy, his grin bigger than ever. "This is _her_?!" He asks his friend, in such a tone it makes Amy frown in confusion – it makes her feel like they've talked about her a lot before, and they're sharing some kind of secret understanding. "I'm so happy to finally meet you, Jake told me so much ab–…"

He's cut off by Jake clearing his throat and shooting him not-so-subtle ' _don't'_ signs. Charles simply gives her his hand for her to check then, and she looks at both men, even more startled than before.

"Look, I think Genevieve's looking for you," Jake shoves his friend away in another direction, pointing towards a woman in the middle of the crowd.

"It was really nice to meet you," Charles enthusiastically tells Amy before he leaves. "See you around!" He shoots a knowing look at his colleague, then disappears.

An awkward silence follows his departure, only broken by Jake's voice after a short moment when he sees her try to retain a yawn. "Let's get you home," he offers and this time Amy doesn't try to protest.

When they're finally alone in his car, away from the crowd and the noisy theater, Jake finally asks the question that has been burning his tongue since the moment his movie ended.

"So… what did you think of it?" He draws his gaze away from the road for just a second, watching her. She only thinks for an instant.

"I liked it. I think the plot was pretty interesting – and realistic."

"C'mon." Jake lets out a laugh. "You don't have to pretend with me. You hated it."

Amy gasps exaggeratedly. "I did not hate it!" She tries to defend herself.

"You fell asleep. I could literally _feel_ your head falling onto my shoulder – and I could hear you _snore_. That was very embarrassing!" He jokes, teasing her.

"What? I did _not_ snore," she acts offended. "Okay, I might have fallen asleep. But not because I didn't like the movie. I just had a very long day at work – a very long week, even. I'm really sorry. But you hadn't been on screen for like fifteen minutes when I started to doze off – your coworkers were looking for you!"

For some reason, the last part of her comment makes Jake beam broadly.

"Oh, so you're saying _I_ am what makes the movie interesting?"

"Nuh-uh. I didn't say that."

"Yes, you just did." His smile grows wider and, despite herself, Amy starts smiling too in front of his silliness.

She won't let him have it that easily, though – they end up arguing and teasing each other during the whole ride, until they reach the woman's apartment.

She doesn't get out just yet, when Jake pulls over in front of her building. Instead, she stays there, as if contemplating something, lost in her thoughts.

"Wanna come up?" She eventually offers, startling Jake.

"You're exhausted – you definitely should go to bed and have some rest. I don't want to bother you any longer," he says, even though he'd absolutely _love_ to spend more time with her. He knows he's making the right choice when he sees her try to hide another yawn, her eyes closing for a split second.

"You're probably right," she answers, though sounds a little disappointed. "Next time, maybe?"

"Absolutely."

She smiles at him, and he reciprocates it. "Thanks for tonight. I had a great time," she tells him as she opens the door. She pauses again, as if she's about to say something, but doesn't in the end.

"Goodnight." She waves at him once she's outside the car.

"Goodnight, Ames." He lets out a sigh when she's gone and he watches her leave, waiting until she gets into her building and disappears behind the door.

 _I have this one rule – never date a celebrity of any kind,_ a voice in his head reminds him of her words, and his heart crushes in his chest again.

* * *

First thing Jake does when he wakes up the next morning is to grab his phone from his nightstand and go through his notifications on his different social media apps, looking for press reactions regarding his movie. He suddenly stops scrolling through messages of love and encouragement from his fans when a tweet from a famous web magazine promoting a newly-posted article catches his eyes.

 _We got an exclusive chat with the real cop behind Jake Peralta's character at the premiere of 'A Crime's Story,'_ it reads, and it makes the actor frown in confusion – Amy never mentioned someone interviewing her the previous night. He's not even sure when it could have happened since they stayed together the whole time of the event.

Unless, it hits him, she talked with the journalist while he left her to get some drinks and got retarded by several people in his way. Intrigued, he clicks on the link and starts reading it.

He finds everything the woman shared about her job and working with him very interesting, even actually still _learning_ things, despite having been the one who got to follow her on the field for a few months, but it's truly her answer to the last question that overwhelms him and makes his heart stop for a full second.

 _ **What's one thing you liked about working with Jake Peralta during all this time?**_

 _We had a lot of fun together. He makes me laugh a lot._

It's not much – and, as a comedian primarily working in a sitcom, making people laugh is part of his job but, somehow, coming from Amy's mouth, it immediately takes a whole new meaning.

Coming from Amy's mouth, it actually _matters_ – more than it ever did before, coming from anyone else's mouth.

And, coming from her, it even means more than what it's simply supposed to – it means she _cares_.

Maybe she _does_ feel the same way as he does, in the end.

His hopes are getting even more up when later that day, he hears a knock at his door and, when he opens it, he finds himself face-to-face with the woman, two boxes of pizza in her hands.

"Hey," Jake greets her, surprised to see her.

"Hi," she answers shyly. "I was feeling guilty about yesterday, how I fell asleep in the middle of your movie when it was so important for you, and how because of me you had to leave the party early… So I thought I could make it up to you by offering you lunch, if you're free right now? I ordered them from Tony's." She shows him the boxes as she explains herself about her presence here.

"I'm always free for pizza, especially if they're from Tony's." A grin appears on Jake's face, touched by the woman's thought. "And don't worry about yesterday. You'll just take me to see it again when it officially gets out in theaters." He jokes, and Amy lets out a chuckle at that.

 _He makes me laugh a lot._ Jake's smile broadens, his heart filling with happiness at hearing the sound of her laugh.

"Are you asking me to ask you out on a date?" Amy plays along with him.

"Would you?" He's teasing her again, though part of him is very serious as he lets out the words.

The woman smiles, and only pauses for a second before she answers him.

"Maybe."

Jake swears, at that moment, as he stares deep into her brown shining eyes, that part of her is sincere too. He's brought back from his reverie by Amy stepping into his place and heading towards the living room, laying the two boxes on the table in front of the couch and taking a seat there, making herself at home. He quickly joins her and they start chatting happily, their laughter filling the room.

"I like your laugh," Jake blurts out of the blue, taking Amy off guard, stopping with her hand holding a slice of pizza stilling in the air.

"What?"

"I read your interview. I read what you said about how we had fun together, and that I made you laugh a lot. I like your laugh," he repeats.

Amy puts her untouched slice of pizza back into the box and makes herself more comfortable into the couch so that she can better look at him. "Jake…" she trails off, not really knowing what to respond to that.

"Look, I know you said you don't wanna date celebrities, but I–… I really like you."

She lowers her head, letting out a sigh, before she puts it back on him, staring at him with a small smile slowly coming to curl up the corners of her mouth.

"I like you too," she admits.

At first, Jake's eyes only widen in disbelief, not so sure he understood her correctly. "Wh– what about your rule?" he feels obliged to ask in case he's getting his hopes up too soon.

"Well, I guess every rule needs its exception…" She gets closer and presses a soft peck on his lips to prove her point, laughing when they part and she sees his startled expression. He doesn't stay this way for too long, though, quickly coming back to his senses and kissing her back, more fiercely this time, bringing her to his chest as his hands settle on her back.

"Wait," she suddenly draws away from him when she feels his fingers skimming her skin under her shirt, sending shivers up her spine. "What about the pizzas? They're gonna get cold."

"I don't care about the pizzas. They taste better when served display temperature anyway."

This reasoning makes Amy laugh again, a sound quickly muffled out by another searing kiss from Jake as she gets closer to him again, convinced by his argument.


	84. (You Are) The Music in Me

**This is 100% inspired by a video that has gone viral on the Internet these days, about a father and his daughter lip-syncing to Maroon 5's _Girls Like You_.**

 **Also, a huge thanks to _amyscascadingtabs_ on Tumblr for the help with this!**

* * *

"Daddy, music!"

Wrapped in her favorite bathrobe and a towel after her shower and comfortably tucked against her father's chest, little Ana Santiago Peralta points towards Jake's phone on the bathroom sink. He looks at her with a small smile, hesitation visible in his eyes – she's supposed to go to sleep soon. But he finally takes the device into his hand. _One song won't hurt._

"Okay, one song," he agrees to her request.

His smile broadens and a wave of warmth takes over his heart when he unlocks his phone and the screen lights up. There shows a picture of the three of them with Amy, all dressed up in matching outfits during the last Halloween.

"What you do want to listen to?"

"Tayor Swit," the toddler answers right away. She doesn't need to think about it even just a little, bouncing with excitement into her father's arms. It makes Jake grin with pride.

"I wonder who raised you to have such good taste already." He kisses the top of her head, still smiling. The girl giggles as he goes through his favorite singer's playlist in search of a song to put on.

 _Bingpot!_ He finds just the right one.

* * *

Usually, it's her daughter's small steps rushing towards the entrance as soon as Ana hears the door opening that welcome Amy home – but not that evening.

This time, the room is weirdly empty when she steps inside the apartment after a long day at work. There's no sign of her husband nor the little girl around.

She frowns at first, confused as to where they might be, until she hears _it_ – the slightly muffled sound of music coming from the bathroom. Some Taylor Swift song, she recognizes. _Shake It Off,_ she can even put a name on it, even from afar – you do _not_ marry Jake Peralta without being able to tell the artist's different most famous hits apart.

She's become used to him putting his playlist out loud around the house by now, after years of living together. Even more so ever since they've had a child. It seems that he has passed his taste in music to Ana.

Amy's not really surprised by the noise, then.

What startles her, however, is the unexpected – yet quite endearing – sight they offer her when she finally joins them after taking off her coat and laying her purse aside.

Indeed, it seems like she's walking into a father-daughter lovely bonding moment. The child is stuck inside Jake's embrace, their heads bumping into each other's while the two of them are lip-syncing in turns to the lyrics of the song.

They both seem very into their little game – her husband's gently moving the both of them around to the rhythm of the music, staring into the mirror. They're sharing a same half-serious, half-amused expression as they simultaneously (and silently) mimic the "mmh mmh" parts.

No wonder why they didn't hear her arrive.

Amy leans against the doorframe, biting on her lower lip not to burst into laughter while watching the pair. She can feel her heart getting warmer with each second passing by.

 _They're adorable,_ she can't help but think. A small beam comes lighting up her face.

It doesn't take long for Jake to spot her reflection in the mirror. He offers her a huge smile back when their eyes meet through the glass; soon, hers grows bigger, fonder too, waving at him.

 _Hi, babe,_ he manages to mouth between two lyrics. In his arms, Ana still follows the song – or at least does her best at trying. He puts his whole attention back on the little girl. He can feel her whole body shudder against his chest, giggling at the silliness of what they're doing.

It makes him pause to look at her, eyes shining in pure bliss.

She truly is the most precious thing he's ever laid his gaze on in his whole life.

(Her, and his wife, obviously.)

Quickly though, he joins in their little 'battle' again. He sneaks some glances at Amy from time to time; she's wearing the same look in her glowing eyes and a soft beam on her face.

"Mommy!" Ana eventually spots her too.

She catches her mother laughing from behind. It makes her laugh along with her, loudly, the sound resonating through the walls of the bathroom.

 _That_ is music to her parents' ears. Even better than any Taylor Swift song.

Jake puts her back down so that she can go and greet Amy. Their daughter doesn't waste any second to run into the woman's open arms and pull her into a tight hug after a day apart.

"You were having fun?" she asks. She draws a little away from her to better look at the toddler. She only nods in return, her smile still wide on her small features, showing her dimples.

(The same as her father's.)

Amy looks up, exchanging a knowing glance with her husband.

After that, it doesn't take too long before the excitement cools down from the child's body, replaced with tiredness as she lets out a little yawn.

"Let's get you to bed."

Her mother takes her back into her arms and the little family finally leaves the bathroom to join Ana's bedroom, where her parents tuck her to bed after changing her into her pajamas.

It's only when they turn her lights off and head towards the living room alone that Jake eventually gets to properly greet his wife. With his hands at her waist, he keeps her close to his chest and gently pecks her lips. He then buries his face inside the crook of her neck – taking her by surprise.

 _I missed you,_ he mouths against the exposed skin. She giggles while shivers run down her spine.

"I missed you too," she playfully answers, then kisses him back. She brings herself more into his embrace and looks up to meet his eyes as she speaks. "And I'm glad I came back home in time to see you and Ana lip-syncing to a Taylor Swift song. You guys were adorable."

She chuckles as images of the moment are already coming back to her mind.

"Can you believe _she_ picked the song?" Jake jokes. "I think my job's done here. Taught her all the best things in life." He amusedly brags, and Amy rolls her eyes.

(She can't help but smile a little too – because he _definitely_ is an amazing father and best teacher of life.)


	85. There's No Place Like Home

"That's a nice house."

As he passes behind his colleague's desk, Charles can't help but take a quick glance at what his best friend is doing. And, if at first his comment is rather informal, something he lets out almost mechanically, realization hits him all of a sudden. He stops in his tracks to take a better look at the picture showing on the other Detective's computer screen.

"Wait. Why are you looking at houses?" he asks. He furrows his brows in confusion, though the feeling is soon replaced with excitement when a thought occurs to him. "Are you and Amy moving out?!"

Jake lets out a sigh. He turns around to meet his friend's gaze. "We're thinking about it, yeah." His face softens as he lets out the words and a fond smile comes curling up the corners of his mouth.

"Why?" Charles repeats.

Unfortunately, this answer doesn't seem to have been enough for him to leave Jake alone.

"I thought you guys loved your apartment and didn't want to leave? That's what you said when I told you my neighbor was selling his house and I suggested I'd put in a good word for you so that we could live next to each other and share a ride to work."

"Yeah, well… things have changed since. We figured we could use some more space," Jake mysteriously explains.

His grin grows wider with each new word he lets out, no matter how hard he tries to remain casual.

He doesn't wait for an answer and turns back his chair. He puts his whole attention back on his computer to show his friend that the conversation's over. The room fills with silence for a beat, making Jake think Charles left his side without trying to argue more. He should have known better, though – because he's soon startled by the sound of a loud gasp behind his back followed by the other Detective's voice.

"Oh my God. You're having another baby." Charles exclaims with an enthusiasm barely contained.

"WHAT?!" Jake faces him again. He lets out a fake laugh, taken by surprise. "No, we're not. What makes you think that? Amy's not pregnant. At all. I mean, she just got promoted Captain, it would be a really bad time for it, right?" He nervously starts rambling.

His eyes suddenly light up at his last sentence, an idea popping into his mind. "That's why we're buying a house!" He lies. "To celebrate her promotion and because now we'll be able to afford it."

He hopes this excuse works on his colleague.

It doesn't, though – Charles can see right through him immediately. He stares at his best friend with a knowing look in his eyes – they're shining with the glow of his excitement.

(After the announcement of Amy's first pregnancy and the following birth of their daughter, you'd think the man would have calmed down about the couple's progeny by now. Apparently not.)

(At least he doesn't seem like fainting, this time.)

Jake lets out another sigh. He knows he has no other choice than telling the truth. Otherwise Charles won't leave him alone until he does.

He gestures for the older Detective to get closer, so that no one else can hear him when he speaks. "Okay, fine," he admits in a secret whisper. "We _are_ having another baby."

The man's reaction to the news doesn't wait to come. He can't retain an excited high-pitched squeal, to which Jake answers with a glare to make him shush. But his face quickly softens. A smile of his own comes spreading on his features. It feels good to be able to say it out loud. _He's going to be a father – again._ His family is growing even bigger, giving a sibling to their precious daughter.

Nothing could make him happier than this.

"But you can't tell anyone." Jake falls serious again. "It's too soon. No one else knows already."

"You have my word," Charles swears. Jake really wants to believe him – he knows the man has good intentions – but despite the promise, he's skeptical. He knows Charles, and how bad he is at keeping secrets. He wouldn't be surprised, then, if by the next day people around the precinct start to randomly congratulate him.

"I'm so happy." Charles squeals again, more discreetly this time. It takes his colleague back from his reverie. "There will be even more Jakes in this world!"

The future father is so happy too, he doesn't find it in him to stop his friends in his ramblings. Instead, he simply gushes about it with him with a dreamy beam and glowing eyes.

* * *

Apparently, Jake was being optimistic when he thought Charles could keep his secret for at least a whole day. Because as soon as Amy passes the doors of the elevator and enters the bullpen to meet with her husband for lunch and some house-visiting while their daughter is spending the afternoon at her grandparents', the Detective's comments and insisting looks immediately give him away.

" _Jake_ ," the woman calls when he finally appears inside the room.

She's been waiting for him sitting at his desk for a good ten minutes. Charles ordered her to, insisting that she shouldn't remain standing for too long in her 'condition.'

 _"_ _What condition?" she asked, confused._

 _"_ _Uhhh…" The man realized too late he'd said something he shouldn't have._

"Did you tell Charles about _the thing_?" She shoots her husband a glare while she stands up to get closer to him. At that, Jake gives Charles a same severe look. He offers him an apologetic smile in return before concentrating back on his paperwork not take part in what's to come between the couple.

"Hi, babe!" Jake gently grabs Amy by the waist and pecks her lips in a tender greeting. "How's the greatest, youngest Captain in the NYPD doing? You had a good morning?"

"Jake," she simply repeats his name. She's well aware of what he's trying to do, and his compliments won't make her forget about what she's reproaching him.

(She can't help but smile a little at the mention of her still new title, though.)

Jake surrenders, then. He lets out a small sigh. "Okay, that's a funny story, really." He forces a laugh but his body language tells otherwise; his finger comes nervously scratch the back of his ear.

In front of him, Amy crosses her arms over her chest, not amused. She's waiting for him to go on with his story.

"But I actually _didn't_ have to tell him about _the thing_ , because he figured it out all by himself when he learned we were looking for a house to buy."

She frowns, though her expression looks softer than before. "And why did you tell him about that?"

"I didn't. I was looking at houses on my computer and he saw it. You know how nosy he can be." That comment actually makes Amy chuckle. She knows all too well indeed.

Jake also relaxes, a mysterious smile now spreading across his face as he goes on with his speech. "Which reminds me, I have a little surprise for you at the end of our meetings so we should go right now, not to be late on our schedule." He offers her a knowing look and a grin.

There's no remnant of annoyance on Amy's face anymore, all of what might have bothered her before completely forgotten. She only seems intrigued. She used to hate surprises – especially _his_ – but she has to admit he's become pretty good at it with time. She can't wait to discover what he has in store for her, then.

"Okay. Let's go." She takes his hand and leads him out of the bullpen. She stops in front of the elevator, though, and turns around. She shoots her husband a knowing glance before she starts talking.

"Attention, everyone. Tonight, party at _Shaw's_. Jake and I have an announcement to make." A fond smile spreads across her face when her eyes meet with Jake's. She holds his hand tighter.

"Is it to tell us you guys are pregnant again?" Rosa asks without even looking up from her computer.

 _"_ _CHARLES!"_ the couple shouts in a same exasperated voice.

* * *

"Okay, Jake, where are you taking me? We've been driving for so long. I can't be late at work."

Sitting on the passenger's seat of her husband's car, Amy starts to get impatient.

"Relax, babe." He glances at her with an amused smile before quickly putting his whole attention back on the road ahead. "I promise you'll be right on time. We're not so far away from your precinct, I've just been taking some detours so that you wouldn't guess where we're going," he proudly states. Jake takes a hand off the wheel to grab his wife's on her lap, gently squeezing it.

Amy sighs. "You blinded me. I literally _cannot_ see anything. How could I guess where we're going?!"

"Still, I couldn't take risks."

"Your surprise better be good," she complains, feeling a little annoyed. She doesn't really like being deprived of one of her senses like this.

Especially when it comes to her sight – being plunged into complete darkness makes her freak out.

Jake shoots her another grinning look, even though she can't see it. "It is, I promise."

Amy doesn't have to wait for much longer before he finally pulls over. He gets out of the car and rushes to her side to open the door to her, leading her out. He takes a few steps away from the vehicle then stops in his tracks, making her stop with him. Slowly, he frees his wife out of her blind. It takes her a few seconds to readjust to the brightness of the sun but when she does, her gaze gets stuck on what's facing them.

"Wh–… what are we doing here?" she asks, confused. She doesn't turn to look at him, staring at a house she recognizes all too well from the numerous pictures she's seen of it.

(From all the scenarios she created in her head of her little family living inside of it. The hours spent inside the library. The games in the garden. The campouts by the fireplace during cold winter nights.

It had everything her binder requested of the perfect house – located in the perfect area, and only a little above their designated budget. Both she and Jake had fallen in love at first sight with it. Even Ana, when they showed their toddler the images and asked if she'd like living there, seemed really enthusiastic about it. Even though, to be fair, she'd already been enthusiastic about all the previous ones as well.)

Jake beams proudly. _"_ _Surprise!"_

"I don't understand… I thought it wasn't for sale anymore. So what are we doing here?" Amy repeats her question.

"I saw how disappointed you were that we were too late on this one, so I gave the real-estate agent my number in case something came out. She called me this morning – the previous buyer dropped out. She's waiting for us inside, if you still wanna visit it…" Jake points towards the entrance of the house, his smile turned soft now.

Amy doesn't answer anything right away, at a loss of words. She stares at her husband, her eyes shining with a few happy tears and her heart warming up in her chest. She can't quite believe what she's hearing.

She's definitely the luckiest woman alive for having married the absolute best person in this world.

Her first reaction, when she finally comes back to her senses, is to break the distance between her and Jake and plant a loving kiss on his lips. "Thank you," she whispers when they part.

He answers her with a kiss of his own, smiling against her mouth.

"Shall we?" He offers her his hand and she follows him inside.

The house is exactly like Amy expected it to be – _perfect_. As the person in charge of selling it takes them on a tour of the different rooms, she and Jake can't stop exchanging knowing looks and smiles. They don't have to say it to understand they're thinking about the same thing. They can easily picture themselves living in there.

"This would make the perfect nursery," the real-estate agent says as they enter another room. "If you ever consider having another child someday."

Amy's hand comes skimming her still flat belly on instinct at the words. She nods at Jake. Memories of that day she learned she was pregnant again and her husband's reaction to it comes back to her mind, making her smile dreamily. They haven't told their daughter yet – wanted to be sure they were sure everything was okay first – but she can't wait for her to know she's going to be a big sister.

Which will probably have to happen before when they had planned, now that their friends all know too.

"We're taking it." The couple barely needs to consider their options when the agent tells them it was the last room for them to visit and want to know what they thought of it. Of all the houses they've been looking at for the past weeks, it's by far the best they've visited ever since that night they decided to move out of their apartment.

 _(It'd only been a few hours since Amy shared the news of her second pregnancy with him, and Jake was still overwhelmed with tons of happy emotions._

 _"_ _We should buy a house together," he suddenly said, getting out of his reverie. Laying in bed with his hand stroking her bare stomach and his head gently resting against it, he looked up at his wife._

 _"_ _Absolutely, let's do that." Amy tenderly ruffled his hair with a beam that soon replicated on the man's features._

 _The day after, a new binder was bought and already filled with ads of houses for sale as well as expectations for their future home.)_

They don't think they're going to find anything better, then. And, most importantly, they don't want to take the risk of losing it again if they're slow to give the woman an answer.

"Perfect. I'll go get the signing papers ready, then."

Finally alone, Jake breaks the little distance between him and his wife. He wraps one of his arms around her shoulders while staring at the empty room/future nursery.

"So, this is another one of our crazy days, huh?"

He lets out a contented sigh, thinking about this new step in their relationship they're about to take by picking their future _home_. Where their children will grow up.

Where _they_ will grow old _together_.

Amy turns her head and meets his gaze – just like hers, his eyes are shining with excitement. She offers him a small smile before getting even closer and kissing him.

"Looks like it, yeah," she dreamily answers as she lets her head fall inside the crook of his neck and her hand rest over her stomach with his, their finger intertwined together.

(They have two things to celebrate later that evening at Shaw's with their friends. Amy's pregnancy, and the closing of a deal for the house of their dreams, indicating the beginning of a new chapter in the life of the little Santiago Peralta family.)


	86. My Lucky Charm

"Daddy?"

Comfortably curled up against her father's side on the couch, Ana lightly pulls at the sleeve of his hoodie to catch his attention. He looks away from the TV screen and down to her – the child has her eyes furrowed in question.

"What is it, Ananas?"

"Why isn't mommy watching _The Lion King_ with us?"

Jake smiles at her. He turns more into the couch to fully face her now. "Remember what we told you? That mommy had a very important test soon?"

Ana nods.

"Well, she has to work a lot to pass it. So she's very busy. But she'll be done soon and when she is, we'll all celebrate and spend the _whole day_ together, okay?"

She contemplates the answer in silence for a beat. She seems pleased with it pretty soon, though, because her eyes suddenly lit up and a grin forms on her small features.

"Will we get ice cream?!"

Her enthusiasm makes Jake laugh. "We will get ice cream," he agrees to her request and, after doing a little victory dance ( _just like her mother_ ), happy with the answer, Ana puts her attention back onto the movie still playing on the screen.

* * *

A knock on Amy's door suddenly startles her. It takes her out of her studying and makes her look up from her notes, her wild de-braided hair framing her tired face. The expression of surprise is soon replaced with a wide smile, though, when she recognizes her husband and daughter standing in the doorway. Ana doesn't wait for her to invite them in to rush towards her mother and into her welcoming arms as soon as their eyes meet.

With the deadline to one of the most important days in her life nearing, the last few days have been hard on the (hopefully) future Captain. She hasn't been able to spend as much time as she would have liked with her family, between her work and studying nonstop to achieve her dreams. It's a true blessing she has the most comprehensive and supportive husband by her side, willing to leave her all the space and time she needs to fully concentrate on something that's so important to her and being the best father to Ana.

"What are you guys doing here?" Amy asks, tenderly stroking her daughter's dark curls ( _her father's hair_ ) after she drew away from her embrace.

"Daddy said it was break time so we could come and see you," Ana answers with a grin. Her mother exchanges a look with Jake, who watches her with a playful smile.

She smiles back at him. He's right. She definitely could use a break right now.

"Plus I have a surprise for you!" The child proudly hands her a piece of paper she was holding until then. It makes Amy frown with curiosity as she accepts the gift. But, as soon as she turns the page around, her heart instantly warms up in her chest. She stares at it in awe for a few seconds – it's a drawing of the three of them holding hands, with a message written above.

 _You got this. We love you, Captain._

"Daddy helped me with it," Ana explains what Amy had already guessed – last time she checked, her daughter didn't know how to write (yet).

She shoots him another glance, then, eyes shining with upcoming tears of overwhelming joy, to which he only replies with a knowing look.

"It's to give you luck." Amy puts her attention back on the little girl. She's at a loss of words.

"This is… so beautiful." She hugs Ana again and kisses her cheek. "Thank you. Both of you." She's talking to Jake now.

"No need to thank us. It's just facts. You're gonna crush this exam, just like you did the previous ones." He casually says.

Her heart misses a beat. _So supportive_ indeed.

"I love you guys too."

(On the day of her exam, Amy gets into the venue much too early. She doesn't mind, though – it gives her time to get through her notes one last time. She opens her _Captain Exam_ binder, then, and a fond smile spreads across her face when she sees her daughter's drawing stuck on the first page.

 _You got this. We love you, Captain,_ she reads her husband's words again and somehow it immediately calms her stress down.)

(He's right, in the end. She _does_ crush the exam. And, when she's called for a meeting afterwards, she keeps the drawing carefully folded in her pocket during the whole interview – _for good luck_.)

(Then, a few months later, it finds its rightful place framed between a picture of her family and another of the Nine-Nine on her new desk in her own office – the one of a newly-graded Captain. The youngest in the NYPD.)


	87. From the Ashes We Rise

**From the Ashes We Rise (Even Stronger than Before)**

It's crazy how, if you look back at where you were only a year ago compared to where you are today, your life might be completely different from what it was back then.

Sometimes you find yourself in a worse situation. But, thankfully, sometimes your existence has changed only for the _better_.

The sun is barely rising through the curtains of their hotel room when Jake wakes up on the first day of his and Amy's honeymoon.

She's still asleep, her head lying on her pillow a few inches from him, so peaceful and smiling in her dreams. It makes him instantly smile too. He brings a hand to her face and softly skims her cheek with his thumb, careful not to wake her up, as if to remind himself that _this is real_.

This is what his life looks like now.

There was no sun to light up his room where he was one year ago. No one to share his bed with and wake up to either. Only the deafening sound of a truncheon against bars and the warden's voice pressing him to _rise and shine_. Only two pictures on a wall facing him and reminding him of what was waiting for him outside – hopefully, his _future wife_ – and a cannibal cellmate.

Jake's really been through hell and back the past year. It changed him – it definitely did – and though at first he hated that thought, wished everything would go back to normal immediately, now he's come to appreciate the change. He might not be the same Jake he used to be before he got accused of a crime he didn't commit but he believes now that it helped him turn into a better version of himself.

 _It means you're growing. It makes you a better detective._

Jake's smile grows wider as he remembers everything that happened during the past year and led him there. Everything that happened and took him to this moment, in this hotel room, next to the love of his life on their _honeymoon_.

First, obviously, came his release from prison. He wouldn't be here today if it weren't for his friends/ _family_ – for his (ex-)Captain, more particularly, who didn't hesitate to risk his career to innocent him.

(To innocent Rosa too. And keep Amy clear from jeopardizing her own job and dreams.)

He wouldn't be here because if he wouldn't have been free, he wouldn't have been able to put into practice his meticulous plan he'd been working on for _months_ on Halloween.

 _Amy Santiago, will you marry me?_

 _Jake Peralta, I will marry you._

He'll never forget the overwhelming feelings that hearing Amy let out these precious, life-changing words brought to his heart.

Then followed the wedding preparations with the finding and losing of a venue, the worst/best Thanksgiving he's ever experienced alongside both his and Amy's parents, the death of his former Captain, the coming out of one of his best friends that created the new tradition of Friday Games Nights with the rest of their squad, another few months away from his _fiancée_ and stuck with his work dad's husband, his annual meeting with his 'best enemy', Amy's promotion as a _sergeant_ , the loss of their honeymoon savings, the finding of a half-sister, wild bachelor/ette parties, the scare of a life for Rosa and the realization that came with it that _if something happens to me, it'll actually affect someone else_ , more wedding preparations and, _finally_ , the wedding with its own share of twists and turns ending with the revelation that Captain Holt would now be known as _Commissioner_ Holt.

All in all, it's been a pretty crazy year for the Nine-Nine. For Jake and Amy.

 _But I shouldn't be surprised, because we've had a lot of crazy days. Every single day that I get to be with someone as amazing as you is crazy to me._

It's been a crazy year, that lead to this even crazier morning – the first morning of a two-week holiday with his _wife_.

His _dream girl_.

The feeling of Amy's body moving next to him suddenly takes Jake out of his retrospection. He watches as she stirs, searching for his body to curl up against, and slowly open her eyes. She smiles, something fond and beautiful – yet still a little sleepy – when she meets his gaze. "Good morning, Mr. Santiago," she amusedly greets him; her smile turns into a grin.

A matching expression quickly spreads across his features at her choice of name. "Good morning, Mrs. Peralta."

He then breaks the barely existent distance between their two faces to kiss her hello. When they part, he stops for a second and stares at her.

"What?" Amy frowns after a while. She can feel the tip of her ears starting to burn in a blush with the deep, intense look Jake has on her – full of love, too.

"Nothing. I was just… thinking about how lucky I am to be here with you today."

Amy beams at him. She passes a hand in his hair, gently stroking his disheveled raven curls with her fingers. "Me too," she confesses before pulling herself back to him and kissing him again.

It's crazy how, if you look back at where you were only a year ago compared to where you are today, your life might be completely different from what it was back then.

Sometimes you find yourself in a worse situation. But, thankfully, sometimes your existence has changed only for the _better_.

It's definitely the case for Jake and Amy, as they celebrate their first day on their honeymoon by doing nothing but _love each other_ – psychologically and physically –, the nightmare that had been prison having turned into just another distant memory locked in the back of their minds.


	88. Forever Started a Year Ago Tonight

"I can't believe _Hitchcock and Scully_ won the heist this year."

Amy sighs as she gathers her things, getting ready to leave the precinct and head over to Shaw's to celebrate the 2018 'Amazing Detectives/Geniuses.'

Sitting next to her on the desk, Jake lets out an amused chuckle. "Yeah, it was an even bigger twist than me proposing to you last year."

He smiles dreamily at the framed picture of the both of them on their wedding day he's been holding before putting it back where it belongs – right next to a selfie the couple took in what seems like forever now, before he and Rosa got wrongly accused of a crime and the both of them went to prison. So much has happened – and changed – in his life, since.

Like he's a _married man_ , now.

"Speaking of…" His smile turns into a full happy grin. "We just passed midnight so happy engageversary, babe." He leans over to press a quick kiss on her lips.

"Happy engageversary."

Despite still being at work, Amy allows herself to rest her forehead against his for a few seconds after they part, their hands intertwined together. She can feel her heart warming up in her chest at the simple memory of what happened exactly one year prior to that moment. How she thought she'd won the heist again only to discover she'd won something even _better_.

The promise of a lifetime with her soulmate.

Finally – _reluctantly_ – they draw apart and she notices the change inside Jake's eyes. They're shining with a new mysterious glint, sign that he's got something in mind.

"I want to show you something before we leave." He quickly confirms her suspicions.

She frowns, curious, but doesn't complain when he takes her hand and leads her around the precinct only to stop in front of Supply Closet F. Aka., Hitchcock and Scully's (not so secret anymore) napping room.

"What are we doing here?" Amy asks, more confused than ever.

"Open the door." Jake simply nods towards it. She obliges, ready to enter, though stops after taking a first step inside. She turns around with her eyes and mouth wide open in shock and interrogation.

"Surprise!" Jake's grin grows wider in pride as Amy's gaze sets back on the view in front of her. The small room has been entirely redecorated, a few lights bringing a nice intimate atmosphere to it. There's a warm blanket laid on the couch next to an open laptop and chocolate cake and orange soda in the fridge ( _I would have brought champagne but y'know… we're still at a police precinct,_ Jake informs her when he shows them to her).

Surely, Amy wasn't expecting something like that. Truth to be told, she even didn't imagine they'd be celebrating their one-year engageversary tonight.

She assumed they'd be too focused on trying to win another heist to take a break for that. There _is_ a little present waiting for Jake at home but she didn't think they'd have the time to open it before the next morning.

"What's all this for?" she asks again when she's regained some composure and Jake made her sit on the couch with a can of orange soda and a plate of cake – the same flavor as the one they didn't get the chance to eat on their wedding day thanks to Cheddar, he tells her.

"I told you. There's something I want to show you." He serves himself a slice of cake before taking a seat next to his wife, immediately cuddling against her side. He throws the blanket over their two bodies and puts the laptop on his lap – it's already ready to be used, showing a paused video on its screen. Or, rather, a tape coming straight from the surveillance camera in the evidence locker.

The date on the top right corner writes _17/10/31 11:58 pm_.

"How…?" Amy gasps when she reads it and immediately understands what's going on – _this is the recording of the moment Jake proposed to her._

She doesn't have the time to say more, though, because the tape starts playing and her whole attention is then drawn onto what's going on on the screen. She doesn't want to miss one bit. She's captivated despite having literally _been there_ and thus knowing what's about to happen. Her heart is already aching in anticipation and with the memory of the feelings that took over her that night.

Absentmindedly, she starts fidgeting with the rings on her left finger while reliving one of the best days of her entire existence through the camera's lens. She can watch all of Jake and her reactions from this new angle, catch all the small details in the detective's body language from the moment he entered the room that could have given his intentions away had she given it more thought at the time. She's glad she didn't. It made the moment even more surprising and overwhelming that way.

There are tears already shining in both the now husband and wife's eyes when they finally reach the critical moment of the reveal of what's _truly_ written on the belt.

 _Amy Santiago, will you marry m–…_

 _Surprise!_

They're falling freely along Amy's cheeks as she hears Jake's speech again – how he enumerated all the things he loves about her before popping the ultimate question.

 _Amy Santiago, will you marry me?_

 _Jake Peralta, I will marry you._

The happy sobs turn into laughter at Charles's reaction to their engagement, from his fainting to the suffocating hug he pulled them in once he came back to life.

 _I'm so happy for you guys…_ He was barely able to talk.

The room fills with silence soon after that when the recording stops. Neither Jake nor Amy speaks for a while, lingering in the emotion these memories brought back.

"I still can't believe all of what you've been through and all the plans you made just to propose to me that night." Amy's the one who finally puts an end to the quietness that fell upon the room, in pure awe.

Jake pulls her closer to his side and starts gently stroking her arm. "Well, I was going to ask the most amazing woman to marry me. Of course it had to be amazing." He grins knowingly.

Amy turns around inside his embrace to face him. She puts a hand on his chest and breaks the barely existent distance between them to kiss him – something soft at first that soon turns into a more passionate exchange, with her husband's hands sliding down her sides to end up on her hips. "I love you so much," she whispers against his neck.

"I love you so much too."

They remain like this for a while, taking advantage of their moment of intimacy after bustle that has been the whole day. Amy has her head lying against Jake's chest until she looks up at him. There's a curious question that has been stuck in the back of her mind since they came in the room that she eventually lets out. "How did you get Hitchcock and Scully to let you use their room?"

Jake straightens up in his seat. He seems a little embarrassed.

"I, huh–… I might have given them some intel about the heist in exchange for access to the room tonight…" He sheepishly lowers his head but Amy's body shuddering against him with laugher quickly makes him look back up.

"So _that_ is why they won tonight. I was wondering how they could have outsmarted all of us."

"Don't worry, babe. I'm the only one capable of outsmarting you." Jake jokes – it owes him a small hit in the side.

"Wait until next year when I'll win my title back and we'll see who's the smartest one in this marriage," Amy answers, eyes shining in challenge.

It makes the detective laugh as he already takes his hand out of under the blanket and brings it to her. "Is that a bet?"

"It definitely is." Amy shakes it with a grin.


	89. At Least, You Won My Heart

**Happy Halloween/Peraltiago's engageversary!**

* * *

As she passes by yet another couple making out in the yard (this time, it seems to be an apparently revisited version of Captain Hook – younger, more attractive – and what looks like a princess coming straight from a fairytale with her ample red ball gown) and, not so far from them, the Devil himself having beers with a Detective, Amy can't retain the sigh that escapes her throat any longer.

She hates Halloween and its stupid traditions. In fact, it's her least favorite holiday, far behind the others.

What is she doing here then, in the middle of a big costume party on the 31st of October?

 _ _Good question.__

To be honest, even she doesn't quite know what went through her mind when she agreed to come to her neighbor's Halloween party. Charles Boyle came by her apartment around two weeks ago with an invite and a bright smile lighting up his face – he seemed so desperately eager for her to be there that she didn't feel like turning it down.

She likes her neighbor and thus didn't want to disappoint him.

No need to say she regretted her act of kindness the minute she entered his house and was welcomed by two zombies pretending they were going to eat her brain.

She's been in there for only a little more than an hour. She forced herself to stay this long despite her best instincts to run fast and far away from this jungle of crazy drunk people as soon as she passed the main door. She could feel her anxiety already build up in her core at the sight of all these strangers pretending to be somebody else for a night. Now though, she just can't handle any of it any longer.

She's leaving. She's going back to her own apartment across the street. She's rejoining the quietness of her room, where she'll finally be able to continue the book she's started reading in the morning. It's patiently waiting for her to come back to it on her bedside table, comfortably curled up under her warm covers in her pajamas. __That__ is the perfect way to spend the night, according to her standards. Not __this__ – to stand in her Harry Potter cosplay in the middle of a crowd full of people who don't even seem to acknowledge her presence anyway. They're too busy dancing and drinking or hitting on someone else.

For sure, Charles won't notice she's missing.

Going from the yard, where she escaped some time ago to take some fresh air when she began to feel a little too overwhelmed by the number of persons surrounding her, and back inside the house to reach the exit door appears to be more challenging than she first imagined. __So many__ people are getting in her way – it definitely makes her wonder how many invites Charles actually sent.

Eventually though, she succeeds. She finds a rather quiet and, most importantly (though quite shockingly), empty corridor.

She stops to catch up her breath and enjoy this new calmness when a voice in her back startles her.

"Hey, hey!" It seems to be calling her. She turns around. She quickly scans the place with her eyes. A curious frown forms on her face, in search of the origin of the sound. She doesn't see anything – nor any _ _one__ – so, after a few more seconds, the room having fallen silent again, she decides her brain must have tricked her and starts to walk away to leave.

But, as soon as she takes a first step, the voice calls again, louder this time.

"Please, right here!" The person seems concerned – she can tell from their tone. "Don't go, I need help!" They plead her.

She takes a deeper look around then, and that's when she finally spots __him__ – a man about her age, she guesses from the little she can see of him. He's wearing a seemingly dirty grey tank top and brown pants and is watching her with praying eyes through a slightly open door. His left hand is cuffed to the handle of a drawer behind him and put in evidence for her to understand why he needs her right now.

She lets out a sigh and pauses for a beat before moving again – in his direction, this time.

 _ _You free him out, then you're out of this crazy house,__ Amy promises herself.

(Foolish of her to think it's gonna be that easy.)

When she enters the room, the man wants to thank her for coming to his rescue. He _'s_ truly relieved that someone finally came by here and managed to find him after spending the past fifteen minutes alone trying to find a way to get rid of these handcuffs by himself. But then she's suddenly facing him, their eyes meeting, and it hits him.

"Hey!" he exclaims instead of his gratitude. A new smile spreads across his features. "I know you. You're Charles's neighbor, right?!"

The confusion on Amy's features that she, on the other hand, doesn't seem to recognize him must be easily readable because he's quick to add, "I'm Jake. Jake Peralta. His colleague and best friend."

"Oh yeah." She remembers, now. "I see. You're __the__ Jake. The one Charles always talks to me about – the best person that has ever existed on this planet, if you listen to him."

She lets out a small chuckle at this, shaking her head while she recalls all of her conversations about the man with her neighbor. Jake laughs along with her.

"I swear everything he might have said about me is true. I'm awesome," he jokes in return. It makes Amy roll her eyes – though laugh a little more as well.

"Anyways, I remember seeing you around a few times, yeah. It's nice to finally meet you, Jake. I'm Amy. Santiago."

Jake offers her a smile. He doesn't tell her he knows that already. In fact, just like for him with her, Charles told him a great deal about the woman in the past – he swore she'd be a perfect match for him. He amusedly wonders how his colleague would react if he'd see them interact together for the first time like they are.

He can't let his mind linger into that thought for too long because he's quickly taken out of his reverie by Amy's hand held in front of him for him to shake.

He simply shows her his still cuffed arm in return and looks back at her apologetically.

"Not that I want to be rude but could you take me out of these first, please?" He points to the keys lying on a table a few meters away from him and just next to her.

"Sure." She lets her own arm fall back alongside her body. She feels foolish for forgetting about this (important) detail and hastens to grab the keys and free him.

While he watches her move, Jake notices how her ears turn a new shade of pink before reaching her cheeks in a faint blush. For some reason, it makes him smile.

"How did you end up stuck here in the first place?" Amy breaks the silence and interrupts his study of her with her curious question. Her eyes are still stuck on his handcuffed arm. "Unless it's some weird sexual game you were playing that turned out badly – I don't wanna hear about this!" She quickly adds, reconsidering what she just said. She finally looks up; her face is even redder than before.

The remark makes Jake laugh, a light, hearted sound. "I wish, but no," he replies. The woman's reaction to his words amuses him deeply – she seems to relax, but not so much at the same time.

 _ _She's cute,__ he can't help but think.

"My boss was just afraid I was going to win our annual heist game again this year so he cuffed me to be sure I can't beat him this time," he explains.

Amy frowns. "Your _boss_ is here, at the party?!" It's all she seems to have gathered from Jake's words. "And you're… playing a game with him? That doesn't seem really professional."

She looks startled by this piece of information. In front of her, Charles's friend just shrugs as he touches his now free wrist. He doesn't quite understand what the issue is here.

"Well, we're not on duty right now. And Charles invited all of our squad tonight. It kind of became a habit of ours to do this."

She doesn't seem more convinced, but Jake doesn't have the time to further explain himself either – he has a heist to win, after all. That's why he goes on, already taking a step outside, "Anyways, it was really nice to meet you __for realz__ but I have to go now – I need to catch up with everything, y'know. Thanks for freeing me. See you later tonight to celebrate my victory? I won't forget to quote your name in my speech, promise."

"Actually… I was going back home," Amy sheepishly confesses. She lowers her head down towards the floor for a second before she brings her gaze back on her new encounter. He's surprised to hear her say that, she can tell from the way his eyebrows are raised now as he watches her and how he stopped in his tracks when she opened her mouth to talk.

His piercing eyes on her make her feel a little uncomfortable – she has to look away again. "See you another time, maybe?"

"Why are you leaving so early? It's not even 10 yet."

Amy sighs before letting it all out. "I… hate Halloween."

She immediately regrets being honest, wishing she would have come up with some lame excuse. This way, it would have prevented her from having to deal with Jake's reaction.

"What? No way!" he exclaims, genuinely puzzled. "Can I ask why?" His voice is softer now.

She sighs again, resigned, before enumerating all the things that make Halloween her #1 nightmare holiday. "Because people get drunk, dress up as stupid characters, and pretend it's okay to do whatever stupid things they want because y'know, they're not really themselves on this day. I suppose I'm not teaching you anything by saying it's the day with the highest crime levels of the whole year?!"

"I do know that, yeah," he says but doesn't linger on this fact for too long as he continues, pointing to her costume with a small teasing smile. "And you __did__ dress up for the occasion as well. Even though I have to admit, I have absolutely no idea what you're supposed to be here?" He acknowledges.

"Are you serious?!" Amy is startled. She looks down at her cosplay uniform in shock. "I'm __clearly__ a Ravenclaw student. You, on the other hand, are dressed as some dirty, unknown character!" she snaps back – she doesn't even take the time to defend herself about the reason why she's wearing a costume.

That is, telling him that _yes_ , she might have dressed up for the occasion, but only to please a friend and not to feel too out of place around the others. Also, it allows her to put on again her Hogwarts uniform – something she's very proud of. She made it all by herself for a Harry Potter convention she attended some months ago; it looks almost as real as the real one.

"Excuse me?!" Jake's the offended one this time. His lips are shaking a little as he speaks; his voice hits a higher note too. He can't quite believe what he's hearing right now. "I'm __obviously__ John McClane! You really never watched Die Hard, the best cop movie ever made?! And what's a Raven… I-don't-know-what student anyways, huh?"

"A Ravenclaw student," Amy repeats in a slower voice. "You know, the best house in Hogwarts?"

Jake tries to understand what she's saying – he truly does, but he can't quite get it. He's completely lost.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he surrenders as he breaks the silence that started to linger between the two of them.

"Oh. My. God. You really don't know Harry Potter?" The woman watches him with wide eyes. "Unbelievable. I should cuff you again and leave you here for being such an uncultivated person."

"Hey!" He pretends she hurt him with her words. "I could reproach you the same. You've never watched Die Hard either!"

"Anyways, it doesn't matter," Amy finally puts an end to their silly argument – not that they were fighting for real, just messing with each other. Which was quite amusing, she has to admit. The man is a lot more entertaining than all the other people she tried to engage in a conversation with during the time she's been there. She almost feels disappointed she's only meeting him now.

"I'm leaving," she reminds him when she sees Jake's confused look. "Enjoy your night, and good luck with your heist, or whatever."

 _ _Oh damn.__ __The heist__ _,_ he's suddenly struck by the memory. He almost forgot about it – all of this because he got caught up in his conversation with Amy. He can't really say he regrets it, though. It definitely was no loss of time.

He's out of his trance just before she disappears behind the door. He quickly hails at her. "Wait!" he exclaims and that makes her stop. She turns around to look back at him with a curious glint in her gaze. He doesn't really know why he did that, but he knows that for some reason he doesn't want for her to leave just yet.

"What?" She seems in a hurry, a little upset that he called her only to remain dead silent now that he has her whole attention again. He has to come up with an excuse _now_ , he tells himself, before it's too late and she just gets tired of waiting and leaves without a warning. Thankfully, an idea suddenly pops into his mind and a grin comes curling the sides of his mouth, his competitive side waking up inside of him.

"I bet I can make you change your mind about Halloween."

Amy raises an eyebrow, doubtful. "Really? Can you magically make everyone here kind, sober and fully dressed?" she skeptically, ironically asks.

" _ _Kind, Sober and Fully-Dressed,__ " Jake teasingly repeats. There's an amused expression shining anew in his gaze while the thought comes to his mind. "That's a good name for a sex tape," he jokes.

She simply rolls her eyes in return, exasperated. She doesn't have the time for these absurdities – her book awaits her.

"No, but really." The man falls serious again all of a sudden. He realizes she's going to leave if he goes on like this instead of coming straight to the point – and he surely doesn't want that. He enjoys her company, it seems, even though they only spent a short amount of time together and did nothing else than criticizing each other's costumes and lack of good taste in movies.

(More in a funny banter than anything else, but still.)

"Stay with me tonight and I'll show you how fun Halloween can actually be."

Amy seems to consider the offer for a beat, until a new light comes shining inside her eyes. She stares deep into Jake's gaze. A challenging grin is covering her face. "Okay," she agrees. "But let's talk about what's at stakes here. What do I get if – or rather __when__ , because there's no way I'll enjoy tonight in any way – I win?"

"First, I'll try not to be too offended that you're so sure you won't enjoy your night with me, but let's not take this personally. And second, you can get whatever you want, I don't care, because __I__ will win. And when I do, what __I__ win…" He pauses to create some suspense, watching Amy with a mysterious smirk. For a moment, she regrets accepting his deal before knowing what he wants from her. She's afraid of what he's gonna ask for. But then he tells her and his words actually startle her more than scare her.

"What I win," he repeats. "Is that you let me take you on a date."

He's just as surprised as she is when he says that. He's not really thinking when he speaks but he doesn't fight it – it's what his heart wants, apparently.

He quickly starts regretting it as he watches Amy's expression change and she remains silent with her mouth half-open, though. But, after some (long) awkward seconds, she eventually seems back to her senses – her competitive grin is back while she hands her hand for him to shake.

"Deal," she seals their bet.

* * *

"Okay, so here's the plan," Jake repeats in a whisper for the umpteenth time as he and Amy are hiding in a room. He sneaks a peek at what's going on in the main room of the house to try and get a glimpse at his adversary. "My Captain doesn't know that I'm back, and he doesn't know you. We have to take that to our advantage and beat him at his own game."

He goes on with some further explanation, telling Amy (again) about what they're seeking. The prize to grab a hold on before midnight, he already explained to her the whole point of the heist right after she agreed on helping him, is a plate upon which the words _Amazing Detective/Genius_ are written. Captain Holt, Jake's boss, has it – the detective is absolutely certain of that.

"There's too many people. I can't see him from here. We'll have to go inside the room so that I can show him to you, and then you're on your own. Remember everything I told you?"

"Yes, Jake," Amy lets out a slightly annoyed sigh. "You've already told me like three times. Plus, I took notes," she proudly shows him her notebook on which she scribbled a lot of words.

"Wow." He's impressed as he looks at the neatly scribbled words – part of him can't help but find her nerdiness quite adorable too. "You're really taking this seriously. Does this mean I'm winning? Does this mean you're enjoying this?" He grins as he points out between the two of them.

"You wish," she answers but she has to retain herself not to smile. She then doesn't wait for him and simply enters the room. He watches her with a dreamy smile of his own before quickly following.

"Okay," he whispers once he's back next to her, carefully watching around him to be sure his boss isn't spying on them at the moment. "Just act natural. We can't be caught."

They stand in the middle of the dancing and drinking crowd for a while. Amy watches as Jake scrutinizes the room – he looks very serious, as if working on an undercover mission. As she studies his profile, knowing he's not paying her any attention, she finally allows herself to smile – she won't admit it out loud but she __is__ starting to get into the atmosphere of the evening.

It's not her fault she's competitive and wants to win.

(Plus it seems that Charles wasn't exaggerating too much when speaking about his best friend to her – he is quite the agreeable company indeed. But this she won't admit either.)

She's suddenly startled out of her reverie by a hand wrapping around hers and leading her in the middle of the crowd without a warning. Before she can say anything, she finds herself pulled against Jake's chest. She watches him with big, shocked eyes. "Just follow my lead," he explains, his voice covered by some new slow music resonating through the walls. "People were looking at us," he nods towards the other couples already moving around to the rhythm of the song.

Amy tries to relax inside his embrace, in vain. She hates dancing. Especially with someone she's only met the same night. No matter how pleasant she might think he is.

"Outch," Jake lets out in pain in the middle of their dance. "How can you manage to step on both my feet at the same time?" he teases her.

"I'm terrible at this, when can we stop?" is her only answer as an excuse. After all, he's the one who dragged her into this. ( _She_ 's the one who agreed on taking his bet in the first place.)

" _ _I'm Terrible at This, When Can We Stop__ – also a good title for a sex tape," he proudly jokes again, which provokes the same reaction it did the first time on Amy – she rolls her eyes at him.

"Hey," he goes on more seriously this time. His voice is softer too. "Do you want me to actually show you how it's done, while we're at it?"

"Yeah… why not."

His grip on her waist tightens then, and a shiver runs down her spine at the touch, but she doesn't think too much about it. She simply concentrates on the moves Jake is slowly taking as he leads her through the dancefloor and she tries to follow him. After a while she manages to adjust her steps to his, and she relaxes, even taking some pleasure in the thing.

If there's one thing Amy didn't imagine herself doing on this Halloween night, it's to be dancing with a half-stranger in the middle of a crowded living-room… and to __like__ it.

Though there she is, wearing a broad smile on her face despite herself when she looks back up at Jake. "It's kind of fun," she acknowledges.

"Yeah," he answers as he smiles back at her. He's so caught up in the moment, his eyes never leaving hers, he doesn't even think about their bet and how he could count her calling their dance __fun__ as his victory. He simply takes advantage of having this woman whose company he seems to really enjoy between his arms right now.

That is, until he suddenly spots the person he's been looking for. He stops in his tracks and loosens his hold on Amy's body, already back in the game.

"Here he is!" He catches her attention by pointing towards a man a few meters away from them.

It takes a few seconds for Amy to come back to reality and remember what she's doing here in the first place, but when she does, and realizes that Jake isn't moving anymore and she can't feel him against her, she kind of feels a little empty and disappointed. Especially when she sees how he's now fully concentrated on his main purpose of the night again: to win his heist against his boss.

 _All of this was just a distraction_ , she tries to remind herself.

"Have you seen him?" Jake asks as she doesn't seem to react to his exclamation.

"Yeah…" She forces herself to focus back on the game. "You can go now." She offers him a small smile, then adds, "I've got it from here. I'll meet you in the room as soon as I have the plate with me."

He thanks her, then watches her leave. He can't keep his eyes away from her, a dreamy beam forming on his face as his gaze follows her until she disappears in the middle of the crowd.

"Uh-oh," Charles suddenly appears from nowhere next to him. It startles Jake out of his stare. "I told you. You guys are __made__ for each other!" He excitedly exclaims as he looks in the same direction.

"Back off, Charles," his friend annoyingly answers before going back to his hiding place not to be spotted by his Captain.

He can't really refute his colleague's words, though. Because he _does_ like her company.

(And he wishes she does too, so that he can win their bet and actually take her on a real date to learn to know her more.)

* * *

Waiting rather impatiently for his new friend to come back where they first met, Jake starts to get afraid Amy finally chose to leave – and, more importantly, to leave _him_. Indeed, the clock on the wall shows it's getting closer to midnight and he still hasn't heard from her in a while. But, as he's starting to think about new plans if it turns out he _is_ all on his own after all, he hears footsteps coming his way.

He hurries back up to his initial spot as a prisoner just in case it's his boss coming back to check on him and see if he didn't break free. He releases a sigh he didn't know he was holding when he recognizes Amy passing through the door – it soon turns into a quiet exclamation of victory when she shows him what's in her hand: the plate.

"Oh my God, you're amazing!" he exclaims, truly impressed; it makes her smile shyly. "But seriously, what took you so long? I thought you betrayed me and were now working for the enemy," he falls serious again as he dramatically shares his previous worries, unable to contain himself.

"Sorry," she apologizes. As she approaches him, she carefully hides the prize away while explaining herself. "I met with Charles, who introduced me to your boss and colleagues and I couldn't get him to stop talking until I told him I had to work tomorrow so I needed to go home."

She avoids his gaze as she takes a seat next to him. She can sense her ears and cheeks starting to burn in a blush as she remembers her conversation with her neighbor – how he made it clear _numerous_ times that Jake was single all the while praising his _amazing_ personality and work as a detective – not subtly at all trying to set them up. It didn't take to be a cop to understand that.

Jake can feel there's something going on with her but he doesn't make any comment about it. He simply sits on the table laying there.

"Smort." He smiles. "This way, if they notice the plate is missing, they'll never think it was you. So now we can wait for the grand finale at midnight."

* * *

They still have about half an hour to go before the end of the day, so Jake and Amy take that time to better learn about each other sharing some details about their lives and funny anecdotes. That's how they find it's really easy to talk with one another about everything and anything – they tease each other and argue on different subjects just like they did during their encounter.

"Admit it. You __are__ having fun." Jake suddenly exclaims as he watches Amy laugh at one of his jokes. He's grinning in victory.

She sighs, defeated, though still smiling despite herself. "Okay. Maybe it __was__ more bearable than what I thought it would be," she confesses. Jake opens his mouth to answer something but she stops him before he can even let out a single word. She knows from the proud look on his face what he's about to say. He's been at it the whole night, repeating the same joke every chance he got.

 _It Was More Bearable Than What I Thought It Would Be_ _– a good title for a sex tape._

"Don't." She warns him with a glare. He obeys, shutting his mouth.

Silence fills the room for a few seconds until he breaks it again, his grin back on his face. "Make sure you have next weekend free. Because I'm not available before that. I'm a very busy man." He amusedly says.

Amy frowns. "What?"

"For our date. Remember our bet? You just admitted you had fun tonight. Which means, __I__ won. And, speaking of winning, it's almost midnight. Time to be crowned best detective again!" He suddenly stands up, excited and not leaving her time to react in any way to his first mention of a date. Especially when, after going to look for the plate where she carefully hid it half an hour before, he's met with emptiness.

"Where is it?" He asks, confused.

"What?"

"The plate! It's not there anymore!"

As if on cue, his Captain, surrounded by all of his squad, enters the room with a vicious grin. "Are you looking for this?" He shows off the prize in his hands.

" _HOW?!"_ Jake exclaims, turning around to meet Amy's eyes. She seems just as shocked as he is about this unexpected turn of events.

* * *

"Captain Holt, you're an amazing police captain/genius."

He doesn't show it, but Raymond Holt is grinning inside when he hears his detective pronounce the precious words in defeat. Everyone's back in the living room to celebrate the man's victory after midnight stroke and he explained to his adversary how he managed to take back the plate. The both of them exchange a few threats about their following Halloween heist then everyone clicks glasses together to properly end the night.

While his friends and colleagues quickly fall into different conversations, Jake distances himself a little away from the crowd. He watches them from afar, sipping on his beer and lets his thoughts wander towards what happened during the night – how he let himself get distracted to the point that he managed to lose the heist he could have so easily won.

It's not his fault Amy is a such an interesting woman that made him forget about his priorities and let his guard down with her tales of the weirdest arrests she's had to make or what it's like to be the only girl growing up with seven siblings.

"Hey," the woman suddenly appears beside him as if thinking about her invoked her. He turns to look at her and a fond smile immediately brightens his face despite himself.

She shyly smiles back. "I'm sorry you lost your heist." She pauses for a beat before going on, her smile shining brighter this time. "But at least you won a bet…?" she trails off.

"It's oka– wait, does this mean…?" It takes a few seconds for Jake to get the last part of her little speech. Amy lets out a small chuckle.

"I'm free next weekend," she confirms, going back to the conversation they were having before Jake's captain interrupted it. She definitely enjoyed her night and would love to see him again after the moment they had. Jake tries to remain casual despite the excitement building up in his core and the new glint forming in his eyes.

"Cool. Noice. That's great."

Amy watches him, a little amused, before turning her head back towards the crowd. Silence takes over them for a little while until she speaks again.

"Thank you for tonight. I'm really glad I met you and you forced me to stay."

She looks back at him – the lights behind her make her skin glow and her dark eyes shine. Jake can tell from the way she's watching him, beaming, that she's sincere. He stares at her in silence with a dreamy look inside his lingering gaze.

She's so beautiful, smiling at him like this. He wants to kiss her now and there.

"I'm really glad I met you too," he answers – and he means it. With every fiber of his heart, he means it. She made his night better – he doesn't even care if he lost his heist because instead, he met her. "It was much more entertaining to spend the night with you than alone and cuffed in that room." He has to add in a joke not to sound too serious, though. It makes Amy laugh, and he laughs along with her.

After that, they fall silent again until Amy breaks it. "Listen, I'm going home now, but I'll see you next weekend?"

Jake is quick to react – he downs the rest of his beer in one gulp. "Actually I was leaving too. I can take you back to your place?" he offers. Even though he knows he's going to see her in a few days, he somehow doesn't want this night to end so soon.

Surprisingly, his suggestion makes the woman laugh. "You know I'm Charles's neighbor, right?"

"Oh, yeah…" He actually didn't think about that and now feels stupid – and disappointed as well, that he doesn't have any more excuse to spend more time with her.

Amy seems to read the disappointment on his face though, because she eventually adds, "But you can still accompany me if you want."

At that, Jake's face instantly brightens. It makes Amy chuckle with amusement. They say goodbye to everyone and grab their stuff before leaving the house together under the host's excited eyes. He's glad his plan of making them meet tonight worked _perfectly_.

It only takes two minutes for Jake and Amy to reach the door of the woman's building.

"So… we're here." She points to it. "I guess this is where we split up." But none of them seem to make a move to leave, each on their own way. Instead, after a short contemplation, Jake takes a step _forward_. He breaks the short distance between their two bodies and kisses her, his hands on her back while hers instinctively come wrapping around his neck in answer.

They're both fully grinning when they part.

"See you next weekend." Jake eventually starts to leave – though never leaving her sight.

"See you next weekend," Amy says in a same voice, a dreamy smile covering her features with joy.

Maybe Halloween isn't her #1 nightmare holiday anymore, she thinks as she enters her apartment once Jake is out of sight, already impatient for their date to come.


	90. As Long as We're Together

**As Long as We're Together, Does it Matter Where We Go?**

One of his hand is full with a glass of fine champagne and the tip of the other is loosely skimming over hot water. The rest of his body but his head and neck is fully plunged into the tub, relaxing in the warmth.

The sent of the flower petals floating all around him is tickling his nostrils and if he opens his eyes, his gaze will fall directly onto his wife, spread out in the water the same way as he is; she's wearing that red bathing suit he loves to see on her so much. Their occasional contented sighs are the only audible sound inside the otherwise quiet and empty room.

It's not Paris and sipping cocktails with a view on the Eiffel Tower, or walking hand-in-hand with Amy alongside streets where Jason Bourne drove a car, but as they're chilling out together in a hot tub, Jake is starting to think this fancy hotel off-state they're staying at for the week _is_ the best honeymoon destination ever.

First, they weren't completely exhausted from jetlag when they got there and thus could make the most of their first evening of vacation with even fancier restaurants and trying out the _enormous_ – and so comfy as well – bed in their room. And now they get to relax in a tub so huge too they could easily add in a third person if they wanted to – not that they do.

They're happy as they are. Alone. Far from their daily lives and obligations.

So truly, Jake wouldn't have it any other way. He teased her when she told him that but the truth is, Amy was right (as she often is) – no matter where they are, as long as they're spending time together, it _is_ like a honeymoon. Good thing he's going to spend the rest of his life by her side then. This is only the beginning of their time together and he's so excited to see where this story of theirs will take them next.

But right now and for the next few days there's only one thing he should focus on: relaxing. With his _wife_.

"What're you thinking about?" Her voice takes him out of his reverie – she's been watching him for a few moments, smiling fondly as she witnessed how his own lips curled up into a similar expression with his eyes closed and his mind wandering about her and how happy he his to be here with her. He opens them to meet her gaze – as soon as he lays his eyes on her, his smile turns into a full grin.

Amy moves to reach his side before he can say anything, making the water move along with her in waves. Jake welcomes her into his embrace, putting his drink aside on a table nearby when she passes a leg over his body and makes herself comfortable on his lap. She smiles as she brings her hands around his neck, a few droplets of hot water falling on the back of it – the touch makes him shiver.

He lets his own arms slide along her sides only to stop at her waist and hook his hands there. Absentmindedly, he starts drawing random patterns with his thumbs over her skin, pulling her closer to his chest as he does so. He pecks her lips, then finally answers.

"I know this is not our dream destination…" Jake pauses for a split second and stares right into Amy's eyes. "But I'm starting to really like this place."

It makes her chuckle, something heartfelt that manages to light up the whole room with the sound of it. She leans over to kiss him with more fierce and passion than their previous exchange – Jake can actually feel Amy's grin against his mouth. She's still beaming when they part, watching him with her eyes sparkling with love and happiness. She could easily tease him as a response but instead chooses to tell the simple truth.

"Me too."

It's not Paris and visiting museums and other monuments, or romantic strolls hand-in-hand with Jake at night in the City of Love, but as she settles further into her husband's embrace and they let the hot water softly hitting against their entangled bodies lull them, Amy is absolutely certain _this_ is the best honeymoon destination ever – anywhere as long as it's by his side.


	91. All I Want for Christmas

**This is actually the canon/endgame-Peraltiago version of a drabble I wrote for a Peraltiago Advent Calendar I'm doing on AO3 (under the same pen name, if you want to check it out). I liked the idea and was kinda frustrated I couldn't do more about it since it's a fake-dating AU so I decided to redo it lol.**

* * *

There's a lot of things Jake still didn't know and learns about the Santiago family while staying at their house for the Christmas holidays for the first time since he and Amy started dating. For instance, decorating a Christmas tree is a very important tradition for them – something that should not be messed with.

It's still early in the morning when a knock on the door suddenly wakes them up on their first morning at the house. A small enthusiastic voice – one of Amy's nephews – pleads them to go downstairs.

"We're putting up the Christmas tree!" Mason chants as if to encourage them to hurry up.

Amy's out of the bed in record-time and forces Jake to do the same despite his protesting grunts. She knows he's not a morning person.

When they finally emerge from Amy's old room and enter the living room, everyone is already gathered around the naked tree. It's surrounded with boxes full of neatly labeled and perfectly organized Christmas ornaments. The Santiagos have been waiting for them – without wasting another second, special assignments are given as soon as the couple arrives. They don't even have time to eat breakfast first.

Jake doesn't complain, but his stomach does.

He simply obliges as he takes a first bauble out of its designated box, then repeats the process several times. From time to time, he shoots some glances at the people around him and how focused they all seem to be, taking their task really seriously. Their thoroughness makes him smile amusedly. Soon though, he's stopped in his tracks by Amy – she appears out of nowhere.

He notices the judgmental and horrified look in her eyes when he turns to sneak a proud glance at her. The witty comment he was about to make gets stuck in his throat and his grin falters a little.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

"Putting up some baubles as requested." Jake shrugs as he places another one onto the tree to accompany his words.

Amy shakes her head. She takes down the bauble.

"You're not doing this right." She replaces it a few inches away from where it initially laid. She then takes a step back to watch her work. A new satisfied smile appears on her softened features.

"How can't I be?" Jake complains. He can't see what she did that's different – and supposedly better – than him.

"Look. You put two red baubles next to one another. It can't work." She points. It seems obvious to Amy but he still doesn't understand the big deal about having two ornaments the same color side by side.

She never complained, during the previous Christmases they spent together or even with their own tree they put up together at home, about the way he decorated them. He doesn't wait to tell her so.

"Well…" she trails off and averts her gaze. It makes Jake pause. "That's because I always redid it whenever you wouldn't watch." She shamefully admits as she puts her eyes back on his. She smiles apologetically.

Jake opens his mouth at the confession but not a word gets out – he's in shock.

"I'm sorry babe, you know I like things to be done thoroughly!" Amy tries to defend herself. It seems to work, because he ends up smiling at her – something fond and full of adoration.

"I know. I love you for that. And that's why I'm gonna let you finish for me, huh? I don't want your whole family to hate me because I messed up with the tree. Not when I'm finally getting along with your father."

He hands her a bauble. She lets out a chuckle and softly pecks his lips. Her eyes are shining with a new glow when she draws away. "I love you too."

Having nothing else to do, Jake goes sit on the couch next to the wife of one of Amy's brothers. She seems to have been banned from the whole process too.

"Don't take this personally." The woman laughs when she hears him sigh. "They're really serious about that whole 'dressing-up the Christmas tree' thing. If it can make you feel any better, Daniel and I have been married ten years and I'm still not allowed to touch the tree. Even my son reprimanded me one year." She points towards the same little boy that woke Amy and him up earlier.

He watches as Mason is concentrated in adding a tinsel starting at the top of the tree with his father's help.

Jake turns his gaze back on the woman with a smile. "Actually it does, thanks."

Despite what he told Amy, he still felt a little bad about being left out on something that seems so important for her and her family.

After that, both of them fall silent for a while. They watch as the others meticulously decorate the tree. Jake's gaze remains stuck on Amy – how focused she looks with a frown on her forehead and how her face seems to suddenly lit up every time she adds another ornament onto the tree. A dreamy grin quickly forms on his lips. She's absolutely adorable – a sight he certainly doesn't get tired of.

Good thing he's going to spend the rest of his life with her then, as the small ring on her left-hand finger shining against the Christmas lights she's now hanging proudly shows.

"So, excited about the wedding next year?" As if she was able to read his mind, a voice rising at his side takes him out of his contemplation and makes him start. When he looks back at Daniel's wife, he sees her staring at him. His beam grows even bigger and brighter at the mention of the event of 2018 for him and his fiancée.

"So excited," he sincerely – and excitedly indeed – says. "I can't wait to be Amy's husband. She's truly the most amazing person I've ever met."

The woman smiles at him knowingly. "Married life truly is the best." She shoots a quick glance at her own husband and their child – it's easy to read how much she cares for them inside her eyes.

Jake can only wish for a similar future for him and Amy as he does the same and turns his gaze towards her again. A future full of love and some 'mini-them,' celebrating together as a whole family.

They keep talking about the upcoming wedding and everything the couple still needs to work on until the woman's son suddenly approaches them. At first Jake thinks he's coming for his mother but, to most of his surprise, it quickly appears that it's not her he's actually seeking. He's got something in one of his hands and a sheepish look on his face as he watches the detective with big impressed eyes.

"Hi, buddy." Jake tries to ease the palpable tension. He's feeling just as uncomfortable as the little boy. Indeed, though he's made some progress during the past few years, he still doesn't know much about children or how to act around them.

The fact that everyone has stopped in what they were doing and now has their gazes stuck on the pair truly is of no help either.

Finally, without a word, the child takes another step and gives him what's in his hand: a big decorative star that's supposed to be the tree topper. Jake manages a smile through his confused frown as he thanks him then looks back at the boy's mother, full of questions. What is he supposed to do with this?! He has no clue but he can tell from the woman's grin and all the 'aww's rising around that it must be a big deal.

"It's a family tradition." Amy steps in to explain what's going on. She's fully beaming too. She puts a hand in her nephew's dark hair and gently ruffles it.

"We don't really know how far back it goes, but some great-great-grandparents came up with this idea so that there wouldn't be any fight over who gets to hang up the star at the top of the tree. They said the youngest of the family gets to do it. And well you're not the youngest but Mason did it last year already so since you're the newest addition to the family, he wants you to do it this year."

There's some hint of emotion in her voice and a blissful glint in her eyes. His soon fill up with tears he has to fight back. He's overwhelmed, his heart tightening in his chest at the sweet gesture and mention of him being part of this family. As he already told Victor at Thanksgiving, it's something he's always dreamed of. To be part of something.

(When he shoots the man a quick glance and is met with a knowing wink, he can't help but suspect the idea might actually be his. A single tear rolls down his cheek. He quickly wipes it off.)

"Oh well, thank you buddy," he says again and smiles sincerely as he lays his eyes back on the child. Mason only shyly smiles back at him before seeking comfort inside his mother's arms and hides there.

Jake then doesn't waste any more second – he stands up to put up the star.

"Wait." Amy stops him as he's about to place it on top of the tree. "You have to make a wish first. It's part of the tradition."

He only pauses for a second, his gaze stuck on her, piercing through her core. He doesn't have to think too long to come up with something to wish for. When he's done, he goes back next to his fiancée and the rest of her family. He wraps an arm around her waist and kisses her head as they all watch their final work.

As he looks at it with more attention, Jake has to admit the tree looks really beautiful, enlightened with fairy lights and decorated in matching red and white colors.

(Now he understands why putting two red baubles too close to one another wouldn't have worked.)

"What did you wish for?" Amy turns her gaze away from the tree after a short while to put it on Jake. She's wearing a curious, yet amused beam on her face.

He lets out a chuckle as he shakes his head. "Uh-uh. Can't tell. Otherwise it won't come true." He mysteriously tells her, teasing her. Amy tries to argue but for only answer, he kisses her pout away.

(It's only one year later that he tells her. He's sure that he came true now, as he watches her decorate their Christmas tree in her pajama pants and a slight bump starting to show off her top.

"I wished for a kid of our own," he says while he walks towards her to wrap his arms around her from behind and kiss her neck, softly skimming her belly with his thumbs.)


	92. Finding a Kidney Donor

Amy waits, frozen in place, in front of the door to Roger Peralta's apartment.

Now that she's actually here, she doesn't think this is such a good idea anymore. If Jake knew where she went, he'd probably be mad at her.

Well, if he still had the energy to be, that is. And if he had, she wouldn't be here at all. This is her last and only option.

Her heart clenches in her chest at the thought of her colleague and friend. The image of him lying in a hospital bed with a face as pale as she's ever seen him strikes back into her mind. She couldn't even tell him she was leaving – he was sleeping when she left his side for the first time in days to search for his father. The doctors said he needed the rest so she didn't wake him up.

She simply squeezed his hand in hers and kissed his forehead before she stood up from her very uncomfortable chair. She went out of the room without a look back.

She was tired of waiting uselessly for a kidney donor. She _had_ to do something – anything – to try and help Jake before it's too late. She couldn't watch the life slowly draw away from his body.

 _Damn his fucked up drinking habits… Who the hell_ never _ever drinks water?!_

Amy takes a deep breath, chases the depressing thoughts away and eventually knocks. Her hand is shaking – she throws it inside her pocket as she fights against the anxiety she can sense is building up in her core. It's getting stronger with every new second passing by without a sound coming from the other side of the door. Impatient, she tries again, and again, pounding harder on the wood each time.

There are tears forming in her eyes she has to contain inside.

Thankfully, after almost a full minute, someone opens to her and Amy finds herself face-to-face with Roger. His hair is messy with a few strands falling in funny places and his eyes are drowsy as if he's just woken up from a nap. His shirt isn't even fully closed and if she looked down, she could see his zipper is open too.

Instead of feeling relieved that he's home, the sight somehow makes Amy furious. Her hand clenches into a fist inside her pocket and her nails dig in her palm.

How can the man be taking naps when his own son is dying?! She hasn't properly slept – not even at night – for _days_ now. And she knows she won't get any true rest until her friend is safe and sound.

 _He doesn't know about Jake,_ she tries to remind herself and calm down a little. Fatigue makes her overreact.

"Hello?" Roger's voice takes her out of her reverie. He's staring at her with a confused frown. Amy closes her eyes for a second to regain some composure before she lays them back on him.

"Hi, I'm Amy Santiago. One of Jake's colleagues from the NYPD." She introduces herself. Roger's frown deepens at the mention of his son's name.

"Jake? I thought he didn't want to have anything to do with me anymore. Why are you here?"

"Can I… come in?" Amy asks. This is definitely not a conversation they should be having on a doorstep.

Roger steps aside and guides her to the kitchen. There, he offers her to sit and something to drink. Amy takes a sip of her beverage then clears her throat to gather some courage.

She goes straight to the point of her impromptu visit. "Jake's sick," she informs his father of the detective's condition.

Her heart sinks with the words and she has to fight back tears again.

"Very sick."

"Oh." Roger doesn't know what else to say – he clearly wasn't expecting such news. He only waits for more details.

"He needs a kidney transplant. _Fast._ And we haven't found any donor yet. Plus it's always better if the donor's genetically related with the person in need…"

"I'll do it." Roger cuts her in the middle of her ramblings. It takes Amy off guard. She watches him in silence for a while – there's not a hint of hesitation in the man's eyes. It's rather startling – she hasn't even _asked_ the question yet. She'd also made a whole binder full of arguments and researches she's made about kidney transplants to convince him to do it, persuaded he'd say no in the first place.

(In another situation, she'd be disappointed she didn't get the chance to show off her work.)

Who could blame her for arriving with such preconceptions, though? From what Jake told her – from what she got from only time she met the man – he didn't seem to care so much about his son. To the point that the detective simply and completely cut him out of his life. Hence her fear of him reacting badly if he knew she's getting Roger involved in this.

She doesn't have another choice or any better idea, she tries to tell herself.

Mr. Peralta seems to read the surprise inside Amy's eyes because he quickly goes on with a sigh.

"I know I've never been a great father to Jake and I should have been a lot more there for him and his mother in the past. But he's still my son. I'm not gonna let him die if I can prevent it."

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

Amy can't retain her tears any longer – they're flowing along her cheeks. She knows it's not the end of the nightmare – there's still a chance the man won't be compatible even if he's willing to try. And then so many other things could go wrong during the surgery. But still, she doesn't want to think about this right now. It's finally a step forward they're taking.

* * *

"Can I ask you something?"

Amy and Roger are on their way to the hospital when the man finally breaks the silence that had fallen upon them soon after they left his apartment.

"Mmhmm," Amy nods without looking away from the road ahead.

"I know this is none of my business. But are you and Jake… together?"

The woman's grip on the wheel tightens and she pauses for a second at the question. She genuinely doesn't know what to answer. There's been some kind of history between the two of them for a while – developing feelings for the other in turns. And, though they've talked about it and came to the conclusion that they were just friends, learning about Jake's disease definitely shook things up again.

She's spent a lot of time by his side since he got admitted to the hospital – more than any of his friends or members of his family. And in those dark hours, they've become closer than ever.

Jake even told her he loved her, the previous night. But she didn't say it back. She was too afraid it was the morphine talking – but she'd be lying if she'd say she didn't have feelings for him as well.

The way she gets sick to her stomach at the mere thought of possibly losing him is enough proof of that. The fact that she's been driving miles for a way to save him too.

She _did_ kiss him, though. Or at least, let him kiss her when he asked if it would be okay if he did. And she surely wishes for a possible future together deep inside, once he's back on his feet.

Because it's all they should focus on right now. For him to get better.

"I hope we will," she only answers then.

The rest of the ride is spent in silence until they finally reach the hospital. Amy immediately calls Jake's doctors to let them know of Roger's presence. The man is taken away to run some tests and see if he could be considered for a transplant while the detective rushes towards her colleague's room. She's been away for no more than just a few hours but she already misses him.

Plus he must be wondering where she went.

Jake's wide awake when she enters, his gaze fixed on the TV. She pauses at the entrance for a beat and studies him. His silhouette has gone so much paler and thinner in so short. The lively sparkle inside his eyes has gone too. He looks like a shadow of himself and isn't getting better – quite the opposite. Amy prays Roger will be able to help.

"Ames! Where were you? I got so scared when I woke up and you weren't there." Jake turns and intently stares at her when he finally hears her come in.

She walks towards the bed and takes her sit back by his side. She holds his hand in both of hers. She shoots him a shy smile as she unconsciously starts stroking the back of his hand with her thumb.

"I'm sorry. I had to take care of something." Amy explicitly stays vague. She doesn't want to tell him the truth just yet – not when she's not sure her plan is going to work. Jake doesn't need to get his hopes up or know she tracked down his father and brought him here so that he could give him a kidney if it's for nothing in the end.

He already has enough in his plate.

"How you feeling?" She doesn't let him ask more questions and changes topics. Jake doesn't even try to argue – he's too tired for that.

He shrugs but manages a reassuring smile at her. He squeezes back her hands with his.

"Always better when you're here."

"I'm not going anywhere," she promises. Her own smile doesn't quite reach her eyes.

 _Please let Roger be able to help…_

They talk for a little longer until they sink into complete silence. Amy watches over Jake when he closes his eyes, their fingers still intertwined together. She misses how his voice used to always fill a room. His incapacity to shut up tended to annoy her before but now she'd be willing to give away anything to have this back. She'd listen to all the stories he has to share with a newfound interest and attention.

She makes a note inside her mind that she'll never tune him off again if he gets better.

 _When_ he gets better, she immediately corrects herself. She won't lose him. She _can't_ lose him.

Amy doesn't know how many hours they spend like this until a doctor comes in and interrupts them in their quietness. The sound of the door opening as he enters the room wakes Jake up. The doctor has a file in his hands and a cheerful grin on his face that make the woman's heart jump in her chest despite her attempts at not getting her hopes up too soon. This might mean nothing at all.

"Good news!" He looks at the both of them, his smile never faltering, not even a little. If anything, it only grows brighter. "The tests all came back conclusive. You've got yourself a kidney donor, Mr. Peralta."

It's all it takes for Amy to release all of the tension she was keeping in her body and let out a sigh of relief. She turns to look at her friend with a newfound happiness – weirdly enough, he looks more confused and skeptical than thrilled.

"What tests? I thought you already tested all of my friends and family who were willing to be a donor and no-one matched?"

"Someone else came by today. Mr. Roger Peralta, your father?"

Jake's eyes grow bigger and more startled at the mention of the man.

"How did he…? Why is he…?" He's so in shock he can barely put up two words next to one another. His gaze switches towards Amy – his expression is full of questions.

She finally and sheepishly explains everything to him. "Please don't be mad at me. But the reason I left earlier? It's because I went to see him. I couldn't stand to do nothing and watch you get worse without being able to help. I know you didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore and I should have asked you first, I'm sorry, but…"

The next words get stuck in her throat. She lowers her gaze, unable to meet his at the moment.

"Mad at you?" Jake's voice is strangely soft when he talks again. He takes his hand out of her grip and brings it to her face, gently putting a strand of hair behind her ear before letting it rest on her cheek. He forces her to look up and stare into his eyes as he speaks. "How can I ever be mad at you? Ames, you just saved my life." He smiles.

The way he looks at her, so sincere and full of something that could be considered to be adoration helps her relax and she smiles back.

"Actually, your father will." She can't help but correct him though. _If the transplant works,_ she thinks but doesn't say.

"I just…" Jake starts, then stops in the middle of his sentence. "Can you give us a minute, please?" He turns to the doctor, who nods his approval.

"Of course."

Jake waits until they're alone again to put his eyes back on his friend. They're literally glowing and piercing through Amy's core as he studies her face – the intensity of it makes her blush.

They also look more alive than they've ever been ever since his health started failing him.

"Ames, you're so amazing." He starts again. She can feel her ears and cheeks and neck burn harder as her skin colors a new shade of red. "I don't know how I could thank you. And not only for this. For sticking up with me the whole time – I would have lost it if it weren't for you."

A first tear rolls down Amy's cheek with the sincerity of her colleague's speech. Her heat is pounding in her chest.

"Just get better. That's all I need."

Jake offers her a small smile in return. He brushes the salty pearl away with the hand still on her face and it makes Amy shiver at the soft touch. They stare at each other in silence for a while, until Jake leans over and gets closer. Amy meets him halfway in a tender, yet eager kiss.

"I meant what I said yesterday," he whispers when they part and he puts his gaze back on her.

She's too overwhelmed by everything that's happening to say anything back right away, but it doesn't matter – as the transplant works and Jake ends up on his feet with Amy by his side each step of the way to a full recovery, the two of them finally get a lifetime to tell and show the other how much they care about each other.


	93. Someday it Will Be Us

It's the third day of their honeymoon vacation and Jake and Amy's hotel is on lockdown because of a tropical storm roaring outside.

They don't mind too much being stuck, though – the luxurious 5* hotel they picked instead of their initial cheap cabin in the Berkshires has all the facilities they need between its walls anyways. They're quietly sipping a cocktail and enjoying some alone time while Holt decided to remain in his room and think about the decision he has to make regarding his commissioner job.

They're cut in the middle of their conversation by a cry of help a few meters away from them. They turn around and watch as a woman bends over with her hands on a prominent stomach and a face full of pain.

"She's in labor!" someone – most likely her husband – shouts in panic. "We need a doctor!"

Amy doesn't waste any time to put her drink aside and jump off her seat when she sees no one around is responding to the desperate call. They're rather all staring at the couple with unhelpful curious gazes. She hurries next to the woman, knowing then that she's her next best chance – there's no way they'll manage to take her to the hospital or having someone coming for her under such bad weather.

"Not a doctor," she immediately states as she lowers down in front of the woman. "But I'm the next best thing for now, okay? I'm NYPD. And I know how to do this," she introduces herself to calm her down.

She stares deep into the other woman's eyes with a reassuring smile as she waits for a reaction. When she nods and her expression softens as much as someone in pain can, Amy goes on.

"Okay, I need you to take deep breaths. We're gonna take you to that couch. It'll be more comfortable there." She stands up and grabs one of her arms while the woman's husband grabs the other and both of them lead her towards one of the huge sofas.

Once she's sure her patient is comfortably settled, Amy turns around. She gets into a full-on high-strung mode and starts giving assignments to everyone who's been circling around them and watching intently. She asks for towels and products and anything else she might need so that the delivery happens under the best possible conditions.

At last she puts her eyes on her husband. "Go check if there's a _real_ doctor somewhere inside the hotel."

Her voice takes Jake out of staring at her in pure awe. He's astonished that she's able to remain so calm and efficient in such a stressing situation. She might have told him the story of how she delivered a baby once while on duty and how it owed her the breast bar she's proudly been wearing on her police uniform since then – the conditions were much worse than here back then – but still.

His wife is amazing and brilliant and full of resources – and she'll never cease to prove to him that.

"Got it, babe." He doesn't question her then and simply goes with a supportive nod and smile.

After all of that, Amy brings her attention back onto the pregnant woman under her care.

"How you feeling?" she gently asks.

"The baby's not supposed to be due for another three weeks," she informs her in panic between two cries of pain that goes echoing with the sound of wind swirling loud outside.

Amy tries to keep her face straight and not show the sudden worry coursing through her veins at the words. She takes the stranger's hand in hers and softly squeezes it.

"Everything's gonna be fine, okay? Just breathe. Keep breathing." She shows her how by taking deep breaths herself so that the woman can follow her lead as she places herself in front of her.

While doing that though, Amy can't help but sneak a quick glance at where Jake disappeared from – hoping he'll manage to find someone truly qualified for this job in case things don't end up fine at all.

* * *

When Jake comes back from his (unfortunately unfruitful) search of a doctor everywhere inside the hotel (it's like those people never take a vacation), the lobby is a lot quieter than it was when he left it. There are no more cries of pain and even the storm seems to be calming down a little through the huge French windows. People are all gathered around the couch where he last saw the poor woman in labor.

He easily spots Amy's back among the packed crowd, her flowery summer dress standing out among the rest. She turns around when she hears footsteps coming her way.

The apologies he was going to make for having failed his mission gets stuck at the back of Jake's throat when his gaze falls from her glowing face to what – or rather _who_ – his wife is carefully holding onto her arms: the tiniest of babies securely wrapped in a warm towel with the logo and name of the hotel on it.

"It's a girl." He looks back up when she whispers not to wake up the newborn. She's grinning at him; immediately, a smile of his own comes curving up the sides of his mouth and he lets his eyes fall back onto the little form – he's unable to keep them away from her, staring.

His heart starts pounding in his chest at the sight of Amy, _his_ Amy, holding a baby against her chest and ever-so-gently stroking her cheek with her thumb. His mind immediately leads him to a (hopefully) near future, where it's not some stranger's infant she's going to hold but their own. He can feel tears start to prickle in his already shining eyes with the simple thought.

He already knows he'll be the happiest man on Earth when that day comes.

"Sorry I didn't find a doctor. Though it seems you didn't need one finally." Jake eventually finds his voice again as Amy heads towards him after giving the infant back to her tired mother.

He wraps an arm around her when she's by his side and she cuddles against him.

"Yeah. We managed things by ourselves," she answers with a proud grin. _She can be proud,_ Jake thinks. _She just delivered a(nother) baby._ "We did a pretty great job, right, Lucy? Well, mostly you, obviously." She shoots a knowing look at the other woman, who nods in return.

"Thank you so much again, Amy. Our own little Amy wouldn't be so fine without you." She looks down at her daughter while she speaks and a loving beam forms on her features.

"Own little Amy?" Jake repeats with a confused frown.

Amy beams too.

"Yeah. They decided to call her after me since I helped them deliver. How cool is that?" The excitement is easily audible in her voice and readable on her face.

"So cool." Jake lets out a chuckle before he brings her closer to him and kisses the top of her head. They remain silent for a while after that, quietly looking at the couple and their healthy newborn baby.

"It's gonna be us someday, right?" Jake eventually says as he dreamily watches the scene in front of them with his heart warming up in his chest at the sight of such a loving little family.

Amy turns her gaze back on him then; her eyes are shining with the same hint of tears he himself had when he first saw her with the infant in her arms.

"I sure hope so." She knowingly grins at him, then suddenly falls serious as she gets lost in her thoughts. "Well, in a hospital and with actual doctors taking care of us, preferably." It makes Jake laugh. Her expression softens.

She puts both of her arms around his neck and stares deep inside his eyes.

"But for now I just want to enjoy our married life together for a little while. Y'know, just the two of us. Is it bad to say I don't want to share you just yet?"

"It's not," Jake reassures her by agreeing with her. "I don't want to share you just yet either." He softly presses a kiss on her lips to prove his point.

They just swore on the rest of their lives spent together a few days ago, after all. They have all the time in the world then.

(Well, not really, but still. There's no rush yet.)

His look, at first full of adoration after they parted, suddenly switches to something more playful as an idea strikes his mind. "I mean, we could still go and make babies right now though. Not _actually_ make babies, but…"

"You mean go back to our room and have sex?" Amy cuts him in the middle of his ramblings, being straightforward as she laughs.

"Yeah. We're still stuck inside anyways and there's a lot of interesting things inside your binder I wanna try out." He wriggles an eyebrow at her suggestively.

Amy lets out another snort and shakes her head but takes his hand in hers. "Let's go." She leads him away from the lobby now that their presence isn't required anymore and the other couple could use some intimacy and quiet.

They have all the time in the world to think about babies indeed, and a crazy-expensive honeymoon they fully intend to enjoy first.


	94. I Stare at my Reflection

**Inspired by an anonymous prompt on Tumblr.**

* * *

 **I Stare at my Reflection (And It's You and Me I See)**

"I got it. I got it."

"You sure, babe? You already said that the last three times."

Jake teases but Amy doesn't pay attention to his comment. She doesn't even bother to answer him. Instead, she keeps her eyes focused on the phone in her hand and their reflection in the camera. Jake amusedly shakes his head as he watches her do – how she tries her best to keep the thumb that's hovering over the button steady and the way she frowns in full concentration.

A dreamy smile forms upon his own face. This is his _future wife_ he's looking at.

"Okay. I'm ready."

Amy's confident voice takes him out of his contemplation as she scoots closer to him – so close that she bumps her shoulder against him and presses her head against his, completely invading his personal space. Jake doesn't even have the time to turn his head back to the camera that a thump followed with a curse and a burst of laughter startles him. She let _his_ phone fall on the table.

"Okay. Let me do this." He grabs the device before she can, letting out a small chuckle himself. "Drunken Amy clearly turned clumsy tonight."

Amy pouts in disappointment but he chases it away with a quick kiss. It immediately brings back some light on her face.

They've been at it for a good _five minutes_ now – trying to take a good engagement picture, an idea the slightly drunk woman got to break the news to their families. But what should have been a simple task soon turned into a real challenge with Amy being incapable of seating still. She ended up blurry in all the shots they already took.

She couldn't help but turn her head towards Jake at the last minute every time, watching him dreamily and giggling blissfully with her gaze stuck on him.

 _("What?" Jake asked when he looked back at her the first time and saw the glint in her shining eyes, the same fond beam lighting up his own features._

" _We're engaged!" she exclaimed and he laughed along with her, the simple thought of it making him giddy.)_

In hindsight, they probably should have waited until they're home and sober to do it.

(Should have waited until the excitement of the proposal has drained off their bodies a little as well.)

Jake brings the phone back in front of their faces after grabbing it. He pauses for a beat, staring at their reflection inside the screen. His arm is circling her shoulders to keep her close and her head is comfortably settled in the crook of his neck, leaning even closer against his side. She's smiling; the sight of the two of them in front of him makes his heart jump in happiness in his chest.

This is quite a simple image of a couple in love, but it's an image he'll get to see for the rest of his life – an image of what their future is going to look like. The two of them together as one, forever and always.

"Ready?" He forces his eyes away from their reflection to truly look at her, softly pressing his lips on the top of her head as he does so. She nods in return and her smile broadens into a grin.

Seeing as Amy doesn't seem willing to move from her comfortable spot this time, Jake is about to click on the button when she buries her face into his neck without a warning. She kisses him there before she lets out another giggle. Of course he misses his shot, startled by the unexpected (good) feeling of Amy's lips against his skin and the shivers her laughter sends down his spine.

She mocks as she eventually looks up to watch the picture – it's just as blurry as the previous ones.

"See? You're just as bad at this!" She shoots him a victorious grin.

"It would have been a good one if you didn't try to distract me!" Jake wants to defend himself with a pout but it doesn't seem to work on his fiancée.

He can't act mad for too long, then – not when Amy is looking at him with literal stars shining inside her eyes and her laughter is once again filling the air, rising above the other patrons' drunken conversations. _He makes me laugh,_ the words from a previous night, a night where some made-up persona had also supposedly just proposed to the character she herself played strikes back into his mind. The reason she said why he was _the one_ – the genuine confession that crossed the line between a fantasy world and _reality_ and made him kiss her, for the first time as Jake himself, back in the evidence locker later that evening. The same place he proposed to Amy a few hours ago.

 _For realz_ this time.

Jake swears he's falling a little bit more in love with her as he watches her in awe. She keeps laughing and laughing and all he can think about is that this brilliant, amazing, wonderful woman just agreed to _marry him_.

He must be the luckiest person on Earth for having someone like her to spend the rest of his life with. His best friend and soulmate. His partner in everything.

"I love you so much," Jake lets out the words that have been going on on a loop in his mind in a whisper. It makes Amy suddenly stop and stare back at him – a fond smile spreads on her features at the words.

"I love you so much too," she doesn't wait to repeat. She leans over and softly presses her lips against his, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm so glad we're getting married."

"Me too."

(In the end, they agree to forget about the picture for now and simply enjoy their night of celebrations. It's only on the next day that they immortalize the event, in the intimacy of their apartment and with clearer minds. They're both grinning widely at the camera as Jake takes the picture on the first try, with their faces glowing as brightly as the small ring on Amy's finger she so proudly shows off in front of the small screen.)

(It immediately becomes each other's contact image in their respective phones.)


	95. This Is the New Year (A New Beginning)

In the middle of doing his paperwork, Jake dreamily looks up at the clock on the wall and the time it writes: 11:23pm. In exactly thirty-seven minutes, 2015 will be over for good while he'll barely have gone through half his shift. His eyes fall back on the woman sitting at the opposite desk and he lets out a sigh.

Jake never had the chance to spend New Year's Eve with a girlfriend he could kiss at midnight before. He was either single or with his partner away for one reason or another –like Sophia was the previous year. And now that he has, they're stuck at work and in a secret relationship, which means he probably won't even be able to steal Amy a quick peck on the lips when the first of the twelve strikes chime on all the bells outside and the famous ball drops a few miles away on Times Square.

This is clearly unfair, he thinks as he watches Amy. She's thoroughly typing a report on her computer with her whole attention focused on the screen and doesn't seem the least bothered to be working – or if she is, she's very good at hiding it. It's been an oddly quiet night so far for such an event and Jake's at least thankful for that. If nothing more, they're here together as partners and not sent on different cases across the neighborhood. He'll still be able to bring her into a hug at midnight with the rest of the squad then. It's not how he imaged they'd be celebrating but it's better than nothing.

The more he looks at Amy, the more his expression softens and his disappointed pout turns into a fond smile. Only a few weeks ago, they went on a date to celebrate their six-month anniversary. Sometimes he still can't quite believe she's been willing to cope with him for so long and they're in a _real_ relationship when they missed out on each other so often in the past.

Yet here they are. About to start a whole new year as a couple after what has definitely been the best six months of Jake's life.

Unable to focus on his job any longer, he takes out his phone and searches for his girlfriend's contact. He then complains to her in a text since he can't do it out loud.

 _I wanna kiss you at midnight… :(_

He quickly puts his gaze back on Amy after that and waits for her reaction. He looks while her attention switches from her computer to her phone when it buzzes next to her; how a curious frown forms on her features when his name appears on the small screen. She shoots him a quick glance before she opens the text. Despite herself, a smile comes curving up the corners of her mouth as she reads the words.

She sets her eyes back on him, longer this time as they exchange a same knowing – and disappointed – look. Jake can tell the moment an idea pops into her mind when the expression on her features suddenly changes and her face lits up. Amy grabs her phone and starts typing frenetically on it, her eyes scanning the room from time to time to be sure nobody inside the almost empty bullpen is paying any attention to them.

He doesn't have to wait long to know what her idea is; it's written on his own phone screen once she's hit the 'send' button.

 _Go down to the evidence lockup at 11:50pm. I'll join you there,_ he reads. He smiles, feeling the excitement already building up in his core as he puts his attention back on his girlfriend and she nods maliciously.

The next twenty-seven minutes are the longest Jake gets to go through in his entire life. He couldn't focus before but now there's no need to even try – he's fidgeting on his seat with anticipation and his eyes keep switching towards the time at the right down corner of his computer every five seconds as if it's going to make it pass faster. The same thought is running on a loop in his mind.

 _He's going to kiss Amy at midnight._

He literally jerks up from his seat as soon as the clock goes from 11:49 to 11:50pm. He tries to look chill as he passes by Amy – no need to say he fails, grinning at her while she watches him go with what could be defined as the perfect 'heart-eyes emoji' look. Really, it's a miracle they've been able to keep their relationship a secret for the past six months given how _obvious_ they are when they're around one another.

In all honesty, Jake wouldn't mind if they came clean to everyone. He'd finally be able to brag out loud about how great his girlfriend is – and how great a boyfriend he's become as well.

But he's not so sure how to tell her that yet – just like he hasn't told her how he _loves_ her either. He's still not so good with emotions even if he tries.

Jake is taken out of his reverie as he's about to take the elevator down to the evidence lockup and meets Charles on his way.

"Where're you going?" he asks, worried. "It's almost midnight, you're gonna miss the countdown!"

Jake thinks quick. "I just need to grab something in the evidence lockup. I'll be right back." He takes a step forward, hoping it'll be enough, but Charles stops him.

The other man doesn't seem to buy his excuse.

"Can't it wait?" he insists.

"No?" Jake puts a hand on his best friend's shoulder. He fights the urge to turn over towards Amy. "Look, Charles, I promise I'll be back, okay?" He looks up at the clock: 11:52pm. He needs to hurry.

A pause follows these words until Charles gives in. "Okay." He steps aside to let Jake go.

"Thanks, bud!" He rushes inside the engine.

It's 11:56pm on his phone's clock when Jake finally enters the evidence lockup. He quickly scans the place to be sure he's alone in there then takes a seat on one of the huge cardboard boxes lying around. He searches for a live stream of the Times Square ball drop so that he has something to keep his mind occupied while waiting for his girlfriend as well as a timer before midnight.

He watches as seconds turn into minutes and there's still no sign of Amy coming into the room. For a moment he starts to fear she won't make it in time.

Maybe she got stopped by Charles on her way, just like he did – or worse, their captain. Maybe she changed her mind about this definitely non-work appropriate meeting to celebrate going into the New Year just the two of them.

The creaking sound of the door opening takes Jake out of his spiraling thoughts and startles him up at exactly 11:59:02pm.

"Finally!" he can't help but exclaim when her figure appears in front of him and the tension in his body immediately relaxes at her sight.

"Sorry," Amy apologizes as she approaches him. "Charles kept me from coming quicker," she says what Jake already suspected.

"It's okay." His voice softens. He watches her with a broad smile and brings his hands up her arms, gently stroking. "You're right in time for the countdown."

As if on cue, people inside his phone start counting down through the speakers. "Ten, nine, eight, seven…"

The couple chants along with them, never once turning their gazes away from the other. With each new second passing by anticipation builds stronger in their core.

"Four, three, two, one…"

Their lips touch at the same time the ball drops on the screen and midnight strikes on the clock. They can hear shouts of _Happy New Year!_ coming from upstairs but barely pay attention to it – they're too lost in their own intimate celebration, with Jake's hands on Amy's back to keep her close to his chest and her own wrapped around his neck.

He couldn't think of any better way to start the new year than in his girlfriend's arms, right where they (truly) kissed for the first time about six months earlier.

It's absolutely perfect.

Until they're suddenly interrupted in their exchange by a well-known voice calling his name and the door flying open without a warning first.

"Jake, what are you doing, it's mid–…" Charles is cut short in the middle of his sentence by the image of his colleagues quickly drawing away from one another in front of him. Amy pushes Jake as far away from her as she can.

Charles frowns; his eyes switch from one to the other in suspicion. There's also a new glint shining inside his gaze as realization hits him.

"Are–… are you guys…" The words get stuck in his throat but the message is crystal clear on his glowing face: he caught them.

Jake glances at Amy. She looks horrified and embarrassed for being seen in such a very unprofessional situation. The tip of her ears is already colored in a new shade of pink. Despite what they're going through, he can't help but find her absolutely adorable and feel forever thankful that she wants to be with him.

"Are you guys together?!" Charles finally manages to let the question out. He's squealing in front of them while waiting for their confirmation.

Before answering, Jake stares more deeply at his girlfriend, silently asking her permission to tell the truth. They both know if they come clean to Charles, the whole squad will be aware of their relationship within minutes too.

It takes a beat of consideration but she eventually nods her agreement with a small inviting smile. He nods back at her before turning towards Charles.

"Yes."

Something inside his heart warms up at finally being able to acknowledge the truth. He is Amy Santiago's boyfriend; the lucky guy who gets to be with her. Jake can't linger into that thought for too long though. The simple word is all it takes for Charles to raise his hands into the air and jump in excitement.

"I knew it!" he lets out a high-pitched scream before taking the couple into a warm hug. "I'm so happy for you, guys. So _so_ happy," he repeats as he brings them closer to his chest. Behind him, Jake and Amy exchange an amused look at his reaction. Maybe it's for the best the truth finally came out. They won't have to pretend there's nothing going on between them anymore.

After all, they first came up with this rule not to have to deal with their friends when they were still figuring out what this relationship was themselves. Now, six months into it, they're well aware of their feelings.

It looks like (and they definitely hope so) it's going to last at least for a while – it's about time they share the news with their loved ones then. And what's a better time than entering a new year to take a new step into their relationship as well?

It's at least what they tell each other once Charles finally leaves their sides and they find themselves alone in the evidence lockup again.

"You sure you don't mind people knowing about us?" Jake still asks Amy one last time, just to be extra sure, before they leave the room to go back upstairs with the rest of their squad and back to work.

"Absolutely not," she doesn't hesitate this time and assures him with a bright smile before she brings him into another soft kiss. She stares right into his eyes when they part, pausing with her hand on his cheek and a beam still lighting up her face. "Happy New Year, babe," she eventually says the words they weren't able to tell each other before because of Charles interrupting their moment.

Jake grins back at her.

"Happy New Year."

He already knows it's going to be a great one – he's got her by his side, after all.


	96. I Will Always Remember You

"You sure your head doesn't hurt?"

"Jake, for the umpteenth time, I'm _fine_."

"What? I'm just checking on you like the doctors said."

Amy lets out a desperate sigh when her boyfriend comes back from the kitchen with a glass of water and asks her for what seems like the millionth time this day if she's feeling alright. He sits back on the couch next to her and stares deep into her eyes, in search of any possible sign that she might not be despite her words. He hasn't left her side – and _sight_ – for more than a minute since they left the hospital earlier that day and came back to her apartment.

She fell down a few stairs head first while chasing a perp during a case and though she somehow managed not to get any physical injury other than a sore shoulder, she still frightened the hell out of Jake.

"I know it hasn't been that long but for a moment you literally _forgot_ we were together, babe. I was terrified I would have to go through the process of asking you out again!" he reminds her with a pout and his expression makes her snort.

"I don't remember you ever asking me out. It was more like you straight up kissing me." She looks at him with a knowing smile and his face instantly softens with relief at hearing her sharing this story of how their relationship began. At her simply _remembering_ they're in a relationship. She snuggles against his side and shares the blanket he wrapped her in earlier with him.

"Was a pretty successful move, though," he proudly answers as he puts his arm around her shoulders to keep her even closer to his body and kisses her temple to emphasize his point. That's what led them to where they are right now, after all. (Though Amy would usually argue _she_ is the one who made it all possible by letting her guard down and deciding to tell the truth when asked why they thought they were "the one" during their undercover mission that night.

" _He makes me laugh."_ )

She lets her head fall on the crook of his neck.

"Anyways, it's not like I could forget about you even if I wanted to. You're too annoying."

She glances up at him to gauge his reaction – a frown forms on her face when she sees he's staring at her with a beam and glowing eyes. She draws away from him a little to be able to better watch him.

"Why are you smiling? This was supposed to be a burn!" It's her time to pout, clearly disappointed.

Jake's smile only grows wider. "You said you couldn't forget about me." She can hear the happiness this statement makes him feel in his voice.

"Shut up." Amy playfully shakes her head though can't retain her own features from lighting up as well. She truly likes this goofy idiot. A little bit more every day. Of course she couldn't forget about him. He's been such a huge part of her life for so long now – long before they actually started dating even, as a colleague then (best) friend.

She takes her place back against him and they remain silent for a while, curled up together and watching as _Property Brothers_ is playing on the television. It quickly became their routine to spend the night together ever since their first date those few weeks ago. (Now that her memory is fully back, she still remembers vividly the heated kisses and scattered clothes on the floor as they passed the door to Jake's apartment.)

(Tonight is much calmer, though – tonight she needs to rest after the scary, but eventually not so serious injury her brain endured.)

As she tries to focus on the show, Amy can feel Jake's gaze lingering on her form from time to time, probably to make sure she's really doing fine. She's been teasing him but she can't imagine what he's been through – what it's been like to have his girlfriend jerk off his embrace and watch him with big shocked eyes when he hurried towards her and called her 'babe.'

(" _You alright, babe?"_

"' _Babe?!' What the hell, Peralta! I'm not your 'babe.' And where are we?!"_ )

(It surely was terrifying for _her_ , to be told things she couldn't remember at the time. Thankfully, it didn't last too long.)

She can sense then, after a while spent without a word, that Jake's about to ask her the question again before he even opens his mouth. She turns to meet his gaze and catches him as he's staring at her. She offers him a sweet smile when she spots the concerned frown on his face. "Seriously, babe. I'm feeling much better. I promise."

She brings a hand to his cheek and leaves it there as he leans against her touch.

"Really? You'd tell me if you need anything, right?"

"Of course." She nods then presses a soft kiss on his lips, her forehead resting against his with her eyes closed for a beat after they part. She can feel her heart starting to race faster in her chest and a smile forming on her face at the thought of her boyfriend worrying about her and wanting to take care of her. It's still new, but this relationship already matters so much to her – _he_ matters so much.

And she wouldn't go back to that time when they were 'just colleagues' for nothing in the world – even a brain injury couldn't take this away for too long.


	97. Such Wonderful Things Surround You

The sun is shining bright above their heads as Jake and Amy go into the sea. She's holding onto him as they dive in deeper; though the water is rather warm, the waves hitting her exposed sensitive skin still manages to send shivers running down her spine. Her face is literally glowing with happiness while Jake's attention is already focused on what's going on below them, in search of any marine life to see.

Amy might have said no less than two weeks earlier after the disaster of a wedding they had that as long as she's with the right people, she can handle anything, there's still a limit to what she can take even with her husband by her side. Having their super-deluxe, romantic, intimate honeymoon completely ruined as well was the drawing line for her.

She's relieved and thankful that Holt is now gone then and that he offered them another week to finally get their well-deserved relaxing and celebrating holidays.

After two days of making up for lost alone times by doing nothing but enjoy great sex, eat great food and catch up on some other great couples activities with just the two of them, the newlyweds finally decided to leave their hotel and take advantage of their extra vacation to visit the area. Going snorkeling with sea turtles was Jake's idea – his gaze instantly lit up at the thought when the receptionist listed some of the things they could do nearby and mentioned the Akumal Beach being situated only a few miles away from the resort. Of course Amy agreed before he even had to say a word when he turned around to look at her and gave her his signature Peralta puppy dog eyes.

(Peralta-Santiago, now – her heart flutters at the thought of this new married life they're barely starting.)

Which took them here, with each new step they take guiding them further into the water. Soon she's not able to touch the bottom of the sea anymore and Amy has to let go of her husband's arm as they swim side by side. She watches as Jake disappears head first under the sea for a few seconds to get a better look at what's going on down there until he surfaces again, spraying her with water a little on his way.

Her smile only grows bigger at the sight – the small undisciplined strand of hair that's been curling at the top of his head is now sticking to his forehead and he's looking at her with a catching blissfulness.

To think that exactly a year ago, she was going through some of the worst days of her life because her boyfriend had been wrongly sent to prison… Now here they are, married and in Mexico as they're enjoying their honeymoon. It's been quite the journey but at least they're happy now.

And together.

Amy's so lost in her thoughts she barely registers Jake's coming towards her until she feels his hands on her waist underwater to hold her close to his chest and finds herself face-to-face with him, his goofy grin never leaving his features while his brown eyes are shining and staring right into hers. It seems like he's been thinking about the same thing – how far they've come since that Hawkins nightmare.

And how marvelous this destination they were ultimately able to choose instead of the Berkshires is.

"I never want to leave this place." Jake lets out a contented sigh, breaking the silence between them as he looks around at the idyllic view surrounding them before he brings his full attention back on the most wonderful thing he can lay his eyes on there: his wife. The way he watches her, with so much love and wonder is overwhelming to her.

Amy brings a hand to his hair, softly combing it with her fingers as she removes the loose strand from his forehead before she lets her palm rest against his cheek and he leans against her touch.

"Yeah, me neither. It's so beautiful here," she dreamily answers. She keeps her gaze straight on his, on his slightly tanned and so peaceful face. He is so beautiful, she thinks – for sure the sun of Mexico and the joy of a life as newlyweds is doing wonders on him and his glowing skin.

(It definitely does on her too.)

Jake then leans over, about to kiss her and she shuts her eyes in anticipation. He suddenly draws away and without a warning before their lips can even brush; it makes her open her eyes again as he points towards something moving under the water not so far away from where they stand.

"Honey, look!" he exclaims as his grip on her waist tightens in excitement for a moment. Amy follows his gaze: there, only a few inches away from her, is a sea turtle passing by them. They stay motionless and in religious silence, almost holding their breaths while they watch the animal graciously swim by their side and mind its own business. It barely pays attention to them.

Amy sneaks a quick glance at her husband in the middle of their contemplation; her features soften even more as she looks at him look at the turtle in pure awe. Her heart instantly fills with a wave of love and affection for this man she's so luckily going to spend the rest of her life with.

"She looked right at me!" Jake takes her out of her reverie with a loud astonished gasp. His gaze falls back on her as if to seek her reaction, his pupils glowing with joy. His enthusiasm makes Amy chuckle and she gently strokes the arms that are still keeping her close against his chest. This time it's her turn to lean over and actually kiss him without being interrupted, pressing a soft peck on his mouth.

"I love you so much," she whispers when they part. Her husband's lips instantly curve up into a smile with the confession.

"I love you so much too," he's quick to say the words back. Amy can't retain her heart from skipping a beat despite how natural it's become for them to share their ever growing feelings towards the other over the years – despite this same love having been 'formalized' only two weeks ago in the form of a wedding. A year ago they were facing up to fifteen years away from each other.

And now they're just at the beginning of a lifetime together.


	98. It's a Love Story (Baby Just Say Yes)

"You alright there, babe?"

While everyone else is already scattering around Shaw's after the 2017 Amazing Human/Genius has been crowned, Jake is still at the counter of the bar when Amy approaches him. The touch of her hand gently stroking his arm takes him out of his reverie. He looks up from his beer and his face instantly lits up when he meets her eyes despite his broody mood.

Indeed, he can't take his mind away from the fact that __she__ is the one who should have won the heist this year. It was all part of his plan – a plan he worked on for _months_ before tonight and what literally kept him going during his time spent in jail. __She__ was supposed to win – or at least __think__ she'd won – so that he could propose to the love of his life right where they shared their first kiss (well, as Jake and Amy, that is).

If Charles didn't betray him and cuff him…

He tried to get off them, tried to bribe Fake Charles into helping him, but in vain. It was too late when he finally freed himself.

Rosa had already won, outsmarting the rest of the Tramps (and their boss and __Amy__ ) after she figured out Holt had stolen the belt from them.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jake offers her a true, reassuring smile. Ever since he's been back from prison she's been extra careful with him and how he might be feeling. He's getting a lot better day after new day of freedom but sometimes he still can't retain his mind from taking him back to moments and places he'd rather forget – and she knows that.

She __witnessed__ that.

He's been certain for a while now that Amy's _the one_ for him (decided on the exact date of April 28th, 2017 that he was going to act on it and actually ask her to marry him) but how she's been there for him like no one else in such a dark time and the way he missed her during those eight weeks apart only made his feelings even clearer. He simply can't imagine a life in which she isn't part of.

"Seems like we've both been outsmarted tonight, huh?" Amy lies against the counter, making herself comfortable as she takes a sip of her own beverage and watches from afar Rosa proudly showing off her prize.

Jake keeps his eyes on his girlfriend (who could have become his __fiancée__ by now), on the hand that's holding her beer and the absence of ring where there presently could have been one, would his plan haven't gone wrong and would have she said yes to his proposal. He can feel the little box still weighing on his pocket and waiting to be taken out. Thankfully for him, the night isn't over and he has a backup plan.

"Can we go? There's somewhere I'd like to take you before we head home."

"Where?" Amy frowns as she focuses her attention back on him. "It's past midnight."

"It's a surprise." Jake offers her a mysterious grin. She studies his face for a moment before she obliges, following him out of the bar after they told everyone goodnight.

"Seriously Jake, where are you taking me? Did I actually offend you when I said you couldn't surprise me anymore? Is this why you're doing this, to prove me I'm wrong? Because it was a joke, y'know." Amy starts rambling after a while riding in silence. It makes her boyfriend chuckle slightly and he turns around for a second to watch her. He takes one of his hands away from the wheel and lets it rest on her tight.

"I know you were. We're almost there. It'll be worth it, I promise."

Or at least he hopes so. He knows she loves him deeply (she proved it so a dozen of times in the past few weeks only) and there's realistically no reason she would say no (he's right in the laps of time she gave herself to get married in the life calendar that's hanging in their bedroom) but still, Jake can't help but feel nervous. It's a huge step in their relationship they're about to take after all.

And he wants to do it right. She deserves the best. Because _she_ _is_ the best person he knows.

"Okay…" Amy's not-so-convinced voice takes him back to reality.

They drive for a few more miles until Jake eventually parks in front of a building they both know well. Her frown gets deeper when she recognizes it as he urges to her side to open the door to her and she gets out of the car, looking up. Her gaze switches from the building then back to his face.

"Why are we here?" She sounds suspicious.

And she can be: there's not much to see in here. At least to common eyes – because to them, this is where it all started.

Where they came _the night_ _ _she flirted with him for 20 seconds and he became obsessed with her forever__ _,_ as Jake confessed to Amy only a few months earlier when she freaked out about her sergeant exam and suddenly disappeared. Their rooftop is just as good a place where to propose as the evidence lockup back at the precinct would have been.

It's still full of history – __their__ history. Hence it being his backup plan.

"Shall we?" Jake refuses to answer her question. He offers her his arm instead with his mysterious smile back on his face. It seems to be catching because despite a shake of her head and a roll of her eyes (mostly for form), Amy can't help but smile back as she hooks her arm with his and lets him guide her inside the building. It's only when they reach the door to the rooftop that he draws away from her.

He takes a step back and points towards the closed door. "After you."

His voice is a little hoarse now and his goofy expression has turned more serious all of a sudden as he can feel a rush of nervousness running down his spine.

As he realizes that __this is it.__ The moment of truth. Behind that door lies his future – a future with Amy forever by his side, he sure hopes.

She seems a little hesitant at first but a smile and a nudge from Jake as she stares at him are all it takes for her to eventually obliges. He doesn't follow her right away – lets her take a few steps ahead before he gets out as well. He watches her looking around at the romantic scene he came to set earlier in the day just in case he'd need it, right where they both sat three years and a half ago during their first date.

 _ _Nut?__

 _ _Only if you throw it!__

Right where they stood together at a turning point of Amy's career.

 _ _What if everything changes between us? Things are so good right now.__

 _ _Yeah, things might change a little, but for the better, right?__

Right where he now gets on one knee before she can turn around.

"What the–…" The words get stuck at the back of her throat when she meets his eyes and he grins at her. His heart is pounding in his chest but it's not out of stress anymore. It's out of love for this wonderful woman who's staring at him with puzzlement in her eyes (it seems like he managed to keep his secret perfectly and she didn't see anything coming).

It's out of excitement to finally be able to pop the question after months of planning it.

"Surprise." His smile grows bigger.

Amy still needs more confirmation that this is __truly happening__ before Jake can start a speech about all the things he loves about her, telling her how amazing she is. He didn't write it down nor rehearsed it beforehand, and maybe he should have, but not once does he have to pause and think about what to tell her – he just has to look at her for the words to come out naturally.

To think that not so long ago, he was very uncomfortable with emotions… He's now literally pouring his whole heart out with his love towards her.

"Amy Santiago," he finally ends his heartfelt monologue with the most important question he's ever gonna ask someone. "Will you marry me?"

He doesn't have to wait long for the answer he's dreamed to hear to come, his gaze lost into Amy's – her eyes are wet from tears of joy and he can feel salty pearls prickling his own too.

"Jake Peralta, I will marry you."

He can't retain the small sigh of relief he lets out as he stands up and slides the small ring on his now __fiancée__ 's left finger. They look at it for a while; how it shines against her skin in the moonlight before Amy eventually pulls him into a kiss, framing his face with both her hands while he hooks his on her back to keep her close.

"I love you so much," she whispers when they part and Jake never wants this moment to end. He doesn't think he's ever been so happy in his entire life – all thanks to the thought that he'll soon be Amy's husband.

All thanks to a promise of __forever__.

"I love you so much too," he's quick to answer.

(It's only later, when they're back in the comfort of their room and curled up in bed, catching their breaths after an intimate celebration of their engagement that he tells her the whole truth.

"This was actually plan C, y'know." Amy frowns as she looks up at him while her hand is drawing random patterns on his bare chest. "The way I proposed to you on our rooftop. I had another belt made with the inscription 'Amy Santiago, will you marry me?' on it that you were supposed to find at midnight thinking you won the heist."

"And what was plan A?" She stops in her movements and sits up to better look at his face. He brings a hand to her face and replaces a strand of hair behind her ear, smiling broadly as he answers her.

"Propose to you months ago," he says it in the most natural ways, as if it were obvious.

Amy's face softens immediately at the words and she leans over to press her lips against his in a kiss as a response. She keeps her eyes on him when they part, both smiling lovingly at each other.

"I can't wait to marry you," she whispers before she goes back to her previous position cuddling against his side – something she'll get to do for the rest of her life, as the ring on her left finger proudly states.)


	99. It Will Be Alright

Roger Peralta is dead.

Jake and Amy were leaving the precinct together after a long day at work, chatting happily when Jake got the call.

"Sorry, it's my mom." He showed her his buzzing phone before he picked up. He had a big goofy grin on his face and Amy, too, was smiling broadly – the remnants of the laughter they shared after he said something funny to her. All in all, some classic Jake/Amy moment like they became used to through the years of their partnership turned into real friendship.

(In hindsight, if she'd known the news that was to come with this call, she'd have cherished this moment more. She misses his smile already.)

She patiently watched from afar as he was pacing back and forth in the parking lot, deeply lost in his conversation. She waited for him with that same dreamy beam that wouldn't want to leave her face and unconsciously tucked her hair behind both ears at the same time as she did so. His back was on her so she couldn't see his own features harden with each new piece of information given to him through the phone. It's only when he hung up and turned to her again that she knew something was wrong.

He was looking down at the floor when he approached her, his hands fiddling with the device, shaking a little. Her heart dropped at the sight – completely sunk at his broken voice.

"So, uh–… my father's dead. Had a heart attack." He finally managed to put his gaze back on her. He brought one of his hands to his hair and scratched the back of his head in a nervous tic.

Amy knew the two weren't close. She knew all about their complicated relationship and how Jake cut him out of his life after the last time he came to "visit" him (rather use his son's job to get away with some issues). Still, she could see how much the news was affecting him – and rightly so. That's why she offered to drive him to his mother's home where the rest of his family was already gathering together.

He clearly couldn't get on the road in such a devastated state of mind. And she wanted to be there for him. Because she cared for him. She _really_ did.

Little did she know he would ask – nay, _plead_ – her to go inside with him when she pulled over in front of the house. And of course, she couldn't say no. Not when he was looking at her like he was on the verge of breaking down and she was the only thing able to keep him together at this point. Not when he grabbed her hand in his and squeezed as he spoke, not wanting to let it go.

 _"Please, Ames."_

He did let it go, though. Disappeared into his room after his mother told him something – something upsetting, apparently. Leaving her as she is right now: sitting awkwardly on the couch in the living room with her palms flat on her lap and another woman's gaze stuck on her in a very unnerving silence. She's studying her with a frown.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Aunt Linda – or at least, that's the name Amy heard Jake use to greet her earlier when she pulled him into a tight hug – finally asks.

"I'm, uh–… I'm Amy. Jake's colleague. And friend." Amy attempts a polite smile. "He asked me to come with him," she feels the urge to add. She doesn't want to seem like an intruder – which she kind of is. This is a family matter and she's not his family. At least not in that sense.

"Friend, uh?" the other repeats in a skeptical tone. Next to her, she can see Karen's lip curve up into a mysterious smile as though she knows something. Amy can feel the tip of her ears start to burn.

This is embarrassing.

"Yes. I should probably go check on him. Again, I'm sorry for your loss." Amy quickly leaves both women alone, seeing her chance to finally escape too.

* * *

The door to Jake's childhood room is wide open when Amy reaches it. She finds him lying on his bed with his back on her and looking at the wall in front of him. She watches him, frozen in place, for a beat. It might not be the first time she's seeing him down but still – he's usually the beacon of light in her life; getting a glimpse of him in his darkest hours is pretty unsettling.

And depressing. This man deserves the world.

"Can I come in?" she softly asks as she knocks on the door to make her presence known. He doesn't say a word but she notices how his head slightly moves against his pillow in an agreement. She carefully approaches him and sits down on the free space next to him, looking around. Under better circumstances, she'd find there's _a lot_ she could use to make fun of him on his younger days, from posters to pictures to even more knick-knacks than the bunch of toys scattered on his desk back at the precinct. But now's not the time.

Amy sets her gaze on Jake and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Is there something I can do?"

"Lie with me?" he's strangely quick to answer, still not looking at her. Amy hesitates for a second before she obeys – his voice is so vulnerable it's impossible to say no to him. She takes off her shoes and lies next to him, tentatively wrapping her hands around his middle to keep him close. She hears him release a sigh under her touch and can feel his tense body relax a little against her chest. She lays her head on his shoulder and they remain silent for a while.

Amy tries not to think too much about the way her heart races at this newfound proximity and how the tip of her ears is burning in an upcoming blush. This is not the time.

"I'm sorry I left you alone with my aunt and my mother but they want me to say something at the funeral," Jake's voice eventually rises through the air. "I can't do it."

Amy takes a deep breath. It's hard to stay strong when one of the persons you care about the most is completely broken. It's hard to find the right, hopefully _soothing_ words in such a situation as well.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." She pauses for a beat before she goes on. "Though it might help you get some closure, y'know." She's careful with what she says – the last thing she wants is to upset him and for Jake to shut her out just like he previously did with the two members of his family when they suggested it. Especially when he clearly seems to need someone to talk to.

"The man's a selfish drunken slut. No one wants to hear what I have to say about him."

Amy doesn't know what to answer. Heavy silence fills the room for a moment until Jake lets out a desperate sigh and eventually lets everything out.

"I don't know why I'm so upset he's dead. I had already cut him out of my life. It's not like I was going to see him again after last time so it doesn't change much for me. But still, it feels like he's abandoning me. Again. Which is dumb, because for once it's not even his fault."

Amy unhooks one of her hands from his middle and brings it to his arm, gently stroking as she speaks and looking up at his face. "It's not dumb. I guess you could still keep hoping he was gonna change when he was alive, and now he can't anymore. It's a pretty normal reaction to feel sad that he's gone."

Another sigh escapes Jake's mouth and she can feel his hands tightening on her grip so that she holds him closer.

"Thanks for being here."

It makes Amy smile slightly as she squeezes his hand in hers. "Anytime. You know I'm never gonna abandon you, right?" She feels like she has to remind him – like he could use such a promise right now.

As the only answer, he nods before they fall back into silence for a moment.

"I really like you, Ames," he eventually – unexpectedly – spills it all out in a whisper and Amy's body tenses in reaction. She's not so sure she heard him right.

Her heart is pounding so fast in her chest she can actually hear it resonating in her burning ears.

"What?" is all she manages to say.

He turns around to face her. His eyes are piercing right through her core, shining from desperation but also something new and lighter that makes her swoon.

"I've been meaning to ask you out for a while now. It's probably not the right time to tell you this but since you can apparently die unexpectedly…" he trails off as he lowers his gaze.

There are a lot of thoughts going around Amy's mind following this confession. A lot of emotions taking over her heart. Jake likes her. Has had for a while, apparently. Some part of her, the part she's been trying to keep locked the deeper away she could after that disaster of a road trip they took a few weeks ago, is absolutely thrilled about the news – because she likes him as well.

Still, though, the reasonable part of her can't stop reminding her about their current situation. Jake just lost his father.

They're really not the best with timings when it comes to admitting their feelings.

"Jake, I–…" The words get stuck at the back of her throat.

"You don't have to go soft on me just because I lost someone today, Santiago." Jake forces a chuckle but the nervousness is easily recognizable in his voice.

Immediately her expression softens and she rushes to clear things up before he misunderstands her.

"No, no! I like you too. It's just–…"

"You do?" His eyes light up as he doesn't let her finish her sentence. It reminds her of the way he stared at her when Teddy spilled the truth about her feelings towards him during their breakup – although it's intensified here. Her heart warms up in her chest and she smiles at him, fond and sincere.

Screw the bad timing, she thinks.

"Yeah."

For the first time ever since he got the call, she gets a glimpse of the real Jake through his joyous, goofy grin for a moment while realization seems to hit him. She likes him.

They're already really close – lying face-to-face and invading each other's personal space like never before but Jake leans in even more, pressing his lips against hers in a small demanding kiss. Amy's quick to respond, closing her eyes as she brings a hand to his cheek and he grabs her waist with his. There's a new glint shining inside his eyes when they part – and she's pretty sure she's wearing a similar awestruck expression on her own face.

Amy knows this is just a truce in the middle of the many wrecked emotions Jake's about to face in the following days – weeks, even – but for now she's just glad to see him smile again.

And in any case, she's going to be by his side every step of the way as she swore she would never abandon him. She well intends to keep this promise.


	100. Thank You for Taking a Chance on Me

**Thank You for Taking a Chance on Me (I Hope to Be Worth It)**

"So… what do we do now?"

Jake's voice makes Amy turn away from the window and back at him when he pulls over in an empty street near their precinct. She catches his hands nervously tapping on the steering wheel as he watches her.

"I can walk from here. You wait until I'm inside to come in next – I'll text you. Otherwise it'll look too suspicious if you're at work before I am," she says matter-of-factly.

She's had the whole ride from his apartment to the Nine-Nine (with a stop at hers so that she could change from her dress) to think about a plan to avoid being caught after the night they spent together.

"Smort." Jake agrees with a smile, which makes her smile at him in return.

She keeps staring at him for a moment and, despite her words, she doesn't move from her seat just yet. Her mind is taking her back to what brought them here and there, in this car.

It's not like having sex with Jake on the first date came as a true surprise, even with the rule __she__ came up with in the first place. The option definitely came into Amy's mind as she was going over all the eventual turns their evening could take while getting dressed. And, as they already discussed right after, she doesn't regret it.

What she didn't imagine, though, was for him to manage to make her stay in bed longer than she should have the morning after.

He let out an annoyed and sleepy grunt when her first alarm went off and wake them up. He kept her close to his chest as she extended her arm to turn it off, making himself comfortable against her and invading her personal space even more than he already had during the night to prevent her from leaving his side.

She meant to escape his grip on her – she __truly__ did. But his body was warm and his hair was messy and his face was soft and so adorable with his eyes shut and his mouth curled into a smile when he felt she wasn't moving. Plus her head was slightly hurting from the few drinks they had and she still had two more alarms she could wait for… So she ended up cuddling next to him again with a contented sigh.

She didn't take into account the fact that she'd have to head back to her apartment before work to change – it was too late when the thought occurred to her mind and she opened her eyes in wild horror.

"I can drive you," Jake said when she voiced her concerns out loud, his tone hoarse from sleep against the skin of her neck. He then lightly kissed her there; it sent shivers running down her spine and she instantly relaxed at the touch. She turned to look at him, studied this new version of him she was witnessing for the first time – the sight of her colleague ('boyfriend') (whatever __this__ was) first thing in the day with his face framed in the morning light coming from the window. A fond smile formed on her features while she brought a hand to his hair and smoothed the undisciplined curls at the top.

"Okay." She nodded her approval. She could really get used to this new dynamic between the two of them already.

She still left the covers despite his protests this time, put on one of his clean NYPD hoodies and headed to the kitchen to make some coffee under Jake's staring eyes, who didn't seem like moving yet until he eventually joined her for breakfast and she disgustingly pouted at his horrible eating habits.

"Well, I'm gonna go now." Amy eventually clears her throat to force herself back to reality. She unfastens her belt and opens the door, taking a step outside. But before she closes the door behind her and makes her way towards their precinct, she peeks her head inside the car again. She sees as Jake frowns at her with interest; she only hesitates for a moment then starts talking.

"I had a great time last night. You wanna have dinner again tonight? We could go to my place and order takeout."

Jake's smile broadens in front of her as he nods at her. "Sure, sounds good." She can tell he's trying to remain casual and not let his excitement show too much – just like she does, though can't retain a smile back at him nor the urge to re-enter the vehicle after one quick look around to make sure they're alone in the street. She leans over and steals him a quick peck on the lips, already missing the taste of them against hers.

"Perfect. I'll see you in a minute, Detective," she playfully says when they part, her gaze stuck on him for another second before she makes her way out for good this time.

(As she walks away from him, Jake watches Amy with a dreamy beam on his face – he still can't quite believe this is his life right now. That the previous night they shared was __real__ and that he's going to experience going out with her again in just a few hours because she had a __great time__ (her words) by his side.)


	101. Pour un futur plus beau

**Spoilers 6x03.**

* * *

 **Faire battre le ciel pour un futur plus beau**

It's really no surprise that Jake finds Amy in the library. He didn't even have to search for her – he simply went straight there, certain that it's where she would be.

And there she is indeed, sitting at one of the tables with her whole attention focused on something she's writing down on a piece of paper. She doesn't seem to have heard him coming – her eyes only switch from her paper to sneak a few glances at a book that's open next to her; they never land on him. Jake takes this opportunity to watch her for a moment.

His lips curve up into a soft smile as he looks at Amy frenetically writing down whatever's going through her mind in what he can only imagine is perfect handwriting. She hung her little backpack on the back of her chair; the part of her hair she tied with her big scrunchie is falling on her left with her head tilted to the side.

She's so cute when she's lost in her work.

After years of partnership, he's got many occasions to see her like this; but never did it happen inside the walls of his old high school.

It's like she belongs in there, and a stunning sight for sure – one that reminds him of the time he surprised her with a night spent at the New York Public Library for their six-month anniversary. She was so excited, going around the different shelving units with actual stars shining inside her eyes as she told him all about some of her favourite books with a visible passion.

They sat at a similar table in the middle of the library and he listened to her ramblings with the same loving beam he's looking at her right now, his hands on top of hers gently stroking their back with his thumbs. Even if he hadn't said the words yet at the time, he still knew she was important and mattered more than any of his previous love stories – more than Jenny Gildenhorn herself.

He already wanted things to work out for the best between the two of them. Had had this feeling since day one. Three years later, he couldn't be happier it did indeed and they're now __married__.

 _ _What would've happened if you got caught? You would have never become a cop__ , Gina's speech from earlier suddenly strikes back into his mind and Jake's heart tightens in his chest at the thought this statement implies. If it wasn't for his job at the Nine-Nine, he probably would have never met __her__. Would have never become Amy's partner, in crime and later in life.

And it's something he'd rather not imagine; what a life without her in it would be like.

In the end then, maybe __one__ ruined high school year is nothing if he thinks about where it lead him – towards a future with his __soulmate__ by his side for the rest of their lives.

Gina did the right thing indeed, he can see it now.

It's this thought that eventually makes him take a step forward and come sit in front of Amy. As he does so, he takes a quick glance at her paper that's already filled with lines and lines of what he supposes are brilliant ideas before he settles his gaze on her when she looks up.

"Oh, hi babe!" He seems to have startled her. "What are you doing here? Is everything alright with Gina?"

She talks to him in whispers – they're in a library, after all.

He offers her a small reassuring smile. "Yeah, everything's good." He nods, then curiously points towards what's in front of her. "What are __you__ doing?"

Jake sees how the tip of Amy's ears starts to turn a new shade of pink in a blush. It makes him chuckle lightly.

"I'm writing a book report on __Jane Eyre__ …" she trails off and he laughs a little bit more.

"Nerd."

He shakes his head but his smile only grows wider. He might have had an overall pretty terrible night during this reunion but for sure Amy is having the time of her life – and he loves seeing her like this, getting all thrilled about everything (loved it even more when she pinned him against a desk after she learned about his attendance record and the hours he spent doing community service).

(If you'd told 17-year old Jake that his future wife would be so turned on by all of this they would end up having sex in the high school's administration office twenty years later, he would have literally laughed at you. And yet there they were.)

"Well, seems like you're pretty busy here. I'm gonna leave you and your book alone and go check out on Gina." He stands up, seeing as he's not needed in there – the reason why he left his friend for a moment after they made up and came to find her in the first place.

"Mmhmm," Amy barely answers. She's already focusing back on her work.

"See you later?"

"Yeah. But don't wait up. Might take a while." She meets his eyes as she warns him.

Again, it makes Jake shake his head in mock-exasperation.

"'K, babe." He chuckles. "Have fun."

He approaches her and presses a soft kiss on the cheek that she's presenting him out of habit, without looking.

"Love you," he tells her before he walks away.

"Love you too." Amy eventually brings her gaze on him and gives him a warm loving smile that soon reciprocates on his own features.

Yep, his life definitely turned great since high school – he couldn't ask for more, he thinks as he dreamily stares at his amazing wife.


	102. Maybe if I Tell Myself Enough

**Maybe if I Tell Myself Enough (I'll Get Over You)**

With a blanket tightly draped around her shoulders and curled up with her high-socketed feet on the couch, Amy is looking right through the flames in the fireplace but doesn't see them. She's lost in her mind, going over everything that went wrong at dinner. Not only did her break-up went the __worst__ way possible with her not being able to work on it first, she might have unfortunately jeopardized Jake's relationship and their own friendship with her confession too.

It already took them some time to get back to normal after he told her __he__ liked her for the first time. She definitely doesn't want to go through that again now that it's been out __she__ might have liked him as well.

She lets out a desperate sigh when a knock on her door takes her out of her reverie. She grunts annoyingly as she stands up from her comfortable spot, not willing to see anyone right now – especially not the only person it can be: Teddy. "What–…" She starts talking before the door's fully open but is cut short when she recognizes who's on the other side, fidgeting nervously.

 _Jake._

"What are you doing here?" Her expression softens though a frown remains on her face. _Shouldn't he be with Sophia right now?_

She can feel her heart starting to pound in her chest.

"I just wanted to check on you." He's barely able to look her in the eye.

 _ _Great. Things are gonna be awkward again,__ Amy can't help but sadly think.

"Oh. I'm good, thanks." It's obviously a lie. How could she be after she ruined everyone's night?! "You?"

Jake shrugs as he finally steadies his gaze on her. His eyes are shining with what Amy suspects are unshed tears.

"I've been better," he says nonchalantly. Then he drops the bomb. "Sophia and I broke up."

"I–…"

"Don't." He stops her with a wave of his hand before she can let out another word. "It's not your fault. Not in the way you think, anyways."

There's a pause after that during which both of them remain silent. Amy studies Jake, watches as he lets out a sigh.

"Wanna come in?" She offers after a while and steps aside to emphazise her words.

Jake simply nods in return. He looks around, still mute. His gaze fixates for a second on Teddy's stuff put on a shelf by the door. He shoots Amy a quick glance then go sit on the couch where she was herself sitting only a few minutes ago. She quickly follows behind, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders again as a shield protecting her from more harm.

"What happened?" She eventually finds the nerves to ask. She can't stand this silence anymore.

His eyes remain stuck on the fire inside the hearth the whole time he speaks. "She doesn't see any future between us. Said it's been fun but that's it."

Amy can sense there's more to it – there's something he's not telling her – probably something that concerns __her__ and her confession – but she doesn't try to know more. She's not sure she could handle it right now.

"I'm sorry," she answers instead. And she means it. She could tell Jake was starting to develop true feelings for his girlfriend. She's really sorry it didn't work out.

Even more so if __she__ is the one who helped Sophia in her realization.

Another quiet beat passes until Jake finally looks up at Amy. His expression is completely different now – he's weirdly grinning amusedly.

Despite everything, it makes Amy smile too.

"What?" She can feel her ears and cheeks starting to blush as he doesn't stop staring at her.

"So, you liked me, huh?" he mocks. His eyes are shining, but from teasing her this time.

"Shut up." She shakes her head though a small chuckle escapes her mouth and her heart warms up in her chest. Maybe not everything's lost after all.

(It's only the next morning, when they're on their way back to New York City that Jake breaks the quietness that has fallen upon them with the truth.

"She said there aren't any sparks when she looks at me – not like what she saw in my eyes when I learned you used to like me. Whatever that means." He shrugs and Amy doesn't respond but her heart flutters in her heart as she stares at him.

 _Damn, she's doomed._ She _still_ likes him.)

(It takes them a while to act on their feelings for good, to admit them at the _same_ and _right_ time but in the end, it all works out.)


	103. I Will Bend Every Light in This City

**I Will Bend Every Light in This City and Make Sure They're Shining on You**

"Ana, look! Daddy's plane landed. He should be here soon now."

Amy points towards the flight board in front of them as she holds her daughter close to her chest and reads the new information regarding her husband's plane that just appeared on the screen.

"Daddy!" The three-year-old starts squealing excitedly in her mother's arms at the mention of Jake.

Amy turns her eyes away from the board to look at her with a loving smile. Ana is the spitting image of her father: she's got his dimples and soft features and dark messy curls at the top of her cute little head. It's only becoming more obvious as she gets older that she's 100% Peralta even though he could swear she's got her mother's eyes and laugh.

(And inherited her signature dorky dance – that Amy can't argue with. She has indeed and it's probably the most adorable thing she's ever got to witness in her life.)

When it comes to waiting, though, like most children (and like _Jake_ ), Ana gets bored pretty quickly. Amy's glad the wait is finally almost over then and they'll get to welcome her husband home soon as it was becoming hard to keep the toddler distracted. She's also impatient to be able to hug him and have him by her side again – it's only been a few days, barely over a weekend away during which they FaceTimed every night before putting their girl to sleep but still, she missed him like crazy.

And she's not the only one who did. Ana made it pretty clear that she missed her father too.

(She knows _he_ missed them as well from all the texts he sent her on his trip.)

As the little girl won't stop moving inside her embrace, Amy eventually lets her down and takes her hand to lead her near the arrival gates so that they can meet Jake halfway. She spots him first when he separates from a crowd of passengers and waves at them, standing only a few feet away from them. Ana's gaze is focused on her feet so she doesn't see him right away.

Amy's heart warms up in her chest as their eyes meet and he shoots her a huge grin.

"Look! My wife and my daughter are here!" he exclaims to catch the child's attention, and indeed the sound of his voice is all it takes for Ana to look up. She pauses only for a second, the time for the realization to hit her that it's her father calling then lets go of her mother's grip and runs towards him. Amy watches as the two reunite – how the hems of their daughter's little flowery dress slightly floats in the air as she rushes in her father's direction; how he immediately abandons his luggage behind and opens his arm to welcome her into his embrace; and how tight Ana hangs onto Jake so that he can't leave her again while he gently rubs her back and peppers her face with light kisses.

She has to cross her previous thought: _this_ is the most adorable thing she's ever seen; a very obvious proof of the unmitigated love these two have for one another.

(And boy, how much does _she_ love them too.)

There are tears of joy shining in both father and daughter's eyes as they eventually approach her, still holding onto each other as if life depended on it and Amy's pretty sure hers are getting just as wet in front of such a scene.

"How're my dream girls doing?" Jake leans over to press a quick kiss onto Amy's lips to say hello. She offers him a soft smile.

"So much better now that you're here," she admits and he smiles back – it's sweet and loving and tainted with a little guilt of leaving them alone. "How was your trip? How's Kate?"

"She's gonna be fine." Amy notices how his hand never stops stroking Ana's back as he talks. "I'm so glad I'm finally home." He doesn't dwell on the topic – simply kisses the top of their daughter's head and brings his attention back on her. "You happy I'm home, sweetheart?"

"YES!" she happily – and pretty loudly – shoots her answer, wrapping her small arms around Jake's neck even tighter. Her enthusiasm makes both her parents laugh, the sound of which soon catches Ana as she laughs along with them. Her small happy giggles rise into the air and warm up Amy's heart again while she exchanges a knowing look with her husband.

As they start heading towards the airport's exit and back to their apartment, walking hand-in-hand with Jake still holding their daughter in his arms (she won't seem to be letting go of him soon), she can't help but _finally_ feel home again now that she's got her _whole_ family by her side – even though she's not the one who just came back. There's no member missing anymore.


	104. Juste pour ton sourire

**Construire un empire juste pour ton sourire**

Amy is quietly talking to her baby while softly rubbing her belly when Jake enters the nursery.

"Babe! I just received an email from one of our potential future babysitters," he says as he approaches his two dream girls.

Amy briefly turns her attention from the infant girl to look up at her husband with a curious frown.

"What does it say?"

He doesn't answer her question; simply hands her his phone for her to check by herself.

Amy should have known from that moment on what all of this was about – she should have seen it coming. But she doesn't. She naively looks at the screen and finds herself face-to-face not with a text like she thought she would but a video of a sheep whose scream soon rises into the air.

 _Tons of times._ Jake played this prank on her _tons of times_ in the past. But it still manages to startle her, taking a step back with the surprise before she shoots him a dark, not-amused glare.

He proudly grins back at her – it apparently still makes him laugh as well.

Amy's about to reply with something but the words remain dead at the back of her throat when a new high-pitched, light sound comes from the crib in front of her. Her dark glare soon turns into another curious expression as she looks down at Ana. She softens completely when she spots their three-month-old daughter squealing and giggling happily while she looks at her parents with visible interest.

Any possible ounce of annoyance she might have felt earlier has definitely disappeared now and, instead of a mock-sharp comment she was preparing in her mind, Amy only exchanges a quick emotional glance with Jake. He seems just as mesmerized by the sight and sound as she is; his eyes are even shining with upcoming tears of joy.

It's the first time they're hearing their baby laughing. And they don't have to say it to agree that it's the best sound they've ever heard – and probably will ever hear – in their lives.

Getting out of her awestruck trance, Amy suddenly grabs Jake's phone and plays the video again, showing it to their daughter as she does. Ana is soon to react; she starts giggling right when the ear-piercing sound of the goat screaming rises again into the air. She does it another time, and another time.

"Really?!" she asks with a chuckle of her own after the third try and equal third burst of laughter coming from the infant girl. " _That_ makes you laugh?"

She shakes her head in disbelief though her heart is full of a blissful feeling she's been experiencing more and more ever since she learned she was pregnant with Ana.

"I made her laugh," Jake lets out a dreamy whisper by her side. When Amy checks on him, she finds him completely astonished and unable to take his gaze away from their daughter.

One tear has finally made its course down his cheek too.

A new pang of love and happiness takes over Amy's chest as she watches him stare at their little girl. Jake's been nothing but an amazing father from the start (even from before Ana was born) despite his initial fears of ending up like his own father. She can easily guess how this moment is making him feel, especially for someone like him.

Especially given their history.

After all, it's all because she admitted that _he makes me laugh_ all these years ago now that they took the leap and gave romance a chance – which then led them to their greatest love story and the birth of the person they love the most in the entire world. Their daughter. Who just laughed for the first time thanks to him and his stupid prank.

(A prank she used on him herself before she _double-tucked_ him back when they weren't a thing yet.)

Apparently, he's got the same skill towards their daughter. Amy can't say it comes as a surprise to her.

"Seems like it runs in the family." She leans against his side and shoots him a knowing look when he finally turns his head in her direction. He answers with a smile of his own.

"I love you. So much. Both of you," he whispers before he pulls her closer to him and kisses her temple. They both set their gaze back on their baby then, spending some more time trying to make her laugh and laughing along with her.

(It's only later that night, when Ana's long gone to sleep and her parents are still talking about the events in the comfort of their own bedroom that Amy eventually teases Jake.

"Seriously though, two years into our marriage and you're still doing that prank? You should be ashamed."

"Ashamed?" he repeats with a laugh, his big goofy grin never leaving his features. "Ames, our daughter laughed for the first time! She obviously loved the joke. I hope you'll get used to it because I'm gonna show her this video _every_ _single_ _day_."

His eyes are shining with amusement as he watches her and, even if she rolls her eyes (mostly for form) Amy stills lets out a heartfelt chuckle.

"Think I can get used to hearing you making our daughter laugh every day, yeah." She leans over and presses a soft kiss on his lips and settles more against his side, letting her head rest on his chest once they part.

It seems like Amy's going to have to deal with two Peraltas and their sense of humor in the house but to be honest, she wouldn't have it any other way – she loves them both so much too.)


	105. I Hear it Call in the Center of it All

**I Hear it Call in the Center of it All (You're the Love of my Life)**

Charles is 16 years old when Nana Boyle calls a family meeting and tells him and the rest of his cousins about The Gift. She sits them all down and explains everything there is to know about this odd sound they experience hearing sometimes; these bells that start chiming in their ears at the most random times and places and why they seem to be the only ones to be bothered by them.

 _Those are wedding bells,_ she says in her most serious tone once she's sure she has everyone's attention. _Us Boyles can detect soulmates. You'll hear this sound every time you'll bump into two people who are meant to be together meeting for the very first time._

It doesn't take long after that for Charles to start interrupting said first meetings by enthusiastically shouting _I'm hearing wedding bells!_ to the lucky – yet completely oblivious about their fate – souls he gets the chance to cross paths with, even those he doesn't know. They often stare at him in return with confused looks or dark glares but it never stops him from doing so.

He's got a gift, and he well intends to use it to spread the love around, putting the idea of a potential future together inside these people's heads.

He never forgets any of the encounters and following callings he experiences through the years but his biggest, most important one happens by the time he's 38 and has been working at the Nine-Nine for a couple of years. It's a fine Thursday morning and he barely has the time to come inside the precinct when his ears start buzzing and the now very familiar sound of bells resonates in his mind.

He quickens his steps and carefully looks around in search of who might have triggered it, letting the ever-increasing noise lead him towards the promised ones when he catches _them_ near the elevator. Jake's back is on him but he could recognize his best friend's figure anywhere; the woman who's facing him though is no-one he's ever seen in the building before.

It soon becomes clear why when he hears her introducing herself to the other detective while he approaches the pair.

"Oh, hi. I'm starting today. Detective Santiago."

Charles's heart misses a beat as he watches his colleague and one of the people he cares about the most extend his arm to shake this Detective Santiago's – his _soulmate_ 's – hand from behind. He's wished for this moment to happen from the second he met Jake – to be able to witness his encounter with the person he's destined with – and it's now happening.

This is by far the most emotional calling he's ever had the chance to experience.

He doesn't waste any more minute then to rush to his best friend's side and exclaim as soon as the younger man is done introducing himself, "I'm hearing wedding bells!" with more enthusiasm than he's ever said those five random, though so significant words since he started shouting them all those years ago.

Jake shoots him a dark glare while their new colleague seems confused and probably embarrassed, her mouth half-open and her cheeks red but he couldn't care less.

He knows these two are soulmates and really, it's all that matters to him.

* * *

Jake learns that Charles can detect when two people are soulmates (or so he says) pretty much from the beginning of their relationship. He catches him flinch at his desk when Rosa introduces herself to Gina on her first day at the Nine-Nine. He sees him bring a hand to his ear as if something's bothering him before a huge smile spreads across his features and he stands up.

"What's up, buddy?" Jake frowns at him curiously. Charles's grin only grows bigger as he shots a glance at the two women a few feet away from them.

"I'm hearing wedding bells!" he exclaims in a very ecstatic tone for only answer.

A disgusted pout forms on both their faces at his words. Rosa throws a pen at him to make him shush while Gina shakes her head.

"Back off, Charles," she threatens. But it doesn't scare nor stop him; he only sits back at his desk with a smile that doesn't want to leave his features.

"I have a gift, y'know." He rolls his chair towards Jake, far too close for his own liking, and whispers in his ear. "All the Boyles have it. We can hear bells singing in our ears whenever we witness the meeting of two soulmates. You'll see. These two are made for each other." He points into their colleagues' direction.

"Sure thing."

Jake doesn't pay it too much attention at first – nor when several similar scenes happen through the years of their partnership and friendship and make the man start rambling about how beautiful love is and how he wishes someday he'll be able to hear wedding bells for _him_ and his soulmate (Jake even has to stop him once as he exclaims the words in front of a dead body and their grieving wife). He doesn't quite believe such a thing as knowing two people are the perfect match is possible.

All the more so when it comes from supposed 'wedding bells' nobody else can hear.

Even when Charles appears out of nowhere and interrupts his first meeting with Amy with his nonsense, the thought doesn't really linger into his mind that she could indeed be _the one_. Especially since they can _not_ get along well at the beginning of their time working as partners. There's absolutely no way he can picture her as his future wife then.

Until a few years pass and Rosa and Gina shock everyone with the news.

"We're getting married!" the civilian administrator calls a meeting one morning and makes the big announcement through one of her elaborate dances.

They didn't even know these two were dating. Except for one of them.

"I knew it!" Charles, who's sitting beside him, exclaims as he waves his arms in the air and squeals in his chair with excitement before he can't keep it to himself any longer and stands up, bringing the fiancées into a warm hug despite their reluctance. Jake shoots a quick glance at Amy across the room – she's smiling broadly and her eyes are filled with barely contained happiness for their friends.

He feels a pang in his chest as he looks at her, Charles's words suddenly coming back to his mind and going on a loop inside his head.

 _I have a gift._

 _I'm hearing wedding bells!_

If they are to believe the shining diamond ring on his oldest friend's left finger, Charles _did_ predict Rosa and Gina's future. Could this mean he's right about him and Amy too, and he's bound to marry her someday – or at least spend the rest of his life with her?

He has to admit it, picturing themselves _romantic-stylez_ doesn't seem as unrealistic to him as it did before. He's kind of developed a crush on her during the past months, seeing her under a new light – she's smart and funny and beautiful and he most definitely enjoys spending time with her, whether working on a case together or hanging out outside of work. But to go as far as saying she's _the one_ for him according to the universe itself (a fact shared through Charles's weird words)… It might be too much to believe still.

Jake shakes his head and turns his gaze away from Amy, refocusing on the women they're celebrating. This is nothing but just a coincidence, he tries to tell himself. She most likely doesn't like him _like that_. And even if she does, it doesn't mean they'll end up together and get married or something.

He doesn't even have the guts to ask her out despite planning to for a while. Surely if they were meant to be he would have taken the leap weeks ago.

He still spends the rest of his day making some research – just out of curiosity, nothing else – and the results surprisingly all come back the same: every pair of people he could remember (and find again) Charles said would get married have indeed tied the knot already or are at least in what seems like a pretty serious relationship.

He and Amy are the only ones left without having found each other yet and he doesn't quite know what to make of this new piece of information.

* * *

Amy's watching the happy couple doing shots at the counter of the bar during their engagement party at Shaw's when Charles comes sitting next to her.

"I told them when they met that I heard wedding bells," he says dreamily as he takes a sip of his beer, his eyes stuck on the two women as well as he speaks. Amy turns to look at him with a frown.

"What?"

"I heard wedding bells when I witnessed their first meeting. Just like the ones I heard when you and Jake first met."

Charles grins at her knowingly as he tries to explain himself but she still doesn't understand.

"What?" Amy repeats with a pout. She can't seem to be able to let out any other word, watching her friend in confusion. _What the hell is he talking about?!_ There's one thing she does get, though – the awful reminder of that awkward first meeting she had with Jake because of him. Years later, she still gets vivid nightmares of that moment sometimes.

She can feel shivers of wild horror running down her spine at the simple thought of that encounter. She's still in the slow process of forgetting that painful memory.

"It's the Boyle Gift. We can predict when two people are made for each other – you and Jake definitely are the next ones. I've already prepared my best man's speech for your wedding."

His smile gets even bigger. Amy opens her mouth, about to reply with something but the words get stuck at the back of her throat. For sure this is a lot to take in.

Instinctively, her eyes switch from Charles to scan the room in front of her, in search of one person in the middle of the crowd. She finds Jake standing and talking with Holt, a beer in his hand. For a second their gazes meet and he shoots her a bright smile that quickly reciprocates on her own features as her heart misses a beat in her chest.

 _Could he really be…?_

She's familiar with the concept of soulmates and people being able to identify them one way or another – she's read books about it, but she always thought about them as another myth. She's never been too keen on imagining the universe not leaving her the choice of who she might fall in love with and having someone supposedly 'made' for her without having a say in who they might be.

But now, as Charles's words resonate in her ears with a whole new meaning and she watches while Jake joins the fiancées in their drinking game and his laughter rises into the air, it somehow all makes sense.

He's her best friend after all. The one person she confides in about pretty much everything. And he makes her laugh like no-one else does… So maybe they could make a good match indeed.

As all these thoughts run fast into her mind, Amy feels the sudden urge to tuck her hair behind her ears, both at the same time, her gaze still focused on her colleague and supposed soulmate. She gets lost so deep in her reverie that she doesn't hear steps coming her way moments later. It's only when Jake calls her, two beers in his hands with one for her that she eventually looks up at him.

Charles apparently left her side at some point, she realizes too.

"You alright?" He studies her for a beat after she grabs the bottle and takes a sip.

Amy stares at him in silence. She doesn't know how to tell him what she just learned, a little scared of how he might react.

A little scared he's just going to laugh at her and reject her, making fun of how naive she is for believing in such things as soulmates.

"Charles just told me the strangest thing…" she trails off as the start of her explanation.

"What did he say?" Jake raises a curious eyebrow.

"He said he's got a gift."

Judging by his reaction, the way he stiffens next to her and suddenly averts his gaze, Amy understands Jake is already aware of it all.

"You knew about it?" she stills seeks confirmation.

"Yeah but I mean, it's Charles. You could pretty much make him believe anything." He lets out a laugh – but it's no teasing, rather some nervous chuckle, still not looking at her as he takes a gulp of his beverage.

Amy frowns. She decides to go with the truth.

"I think he's right. I read about those things. It happened before. And well, tonight's a pretty good proof of what he's saying too."

These words actually make him jerk his gaze back on her, apparently starling him. There's a new glint shining inside his brown eyes that's reflecting in the dim light of the bar – a glimmer of hope, it seems.

"You do? You… you think we're meant to be?" He stares at her in awe and she offers him a small smile in return.

A song is playing in the background, and despite the noise the other patrons make around them, Amy can still hear some of its lyrics being repeated several times – _you're the love of my life_ … She lets out a small chuckle as she listens to the music. If this isn't another sign the universe is throwing at them…

"I mean, it wouldn't hurt to try and find out if this," she points between the two of them, driven by a new boost of confidence that the few drinks she downed in the last hours probably helped to get, "could work. If you want to." She shrugs.

She can feel the tip of her ears starting to burn in a blush that's soon to spread on her cheeks and neck and her heart pounding in her chest so hard she can hear it resonate in her head. She knows _she_ wants to. If she's being truthful with herself, she's been thinking about what dating Jake could be like from even before she learned about this soulmates thing and how he was _it_ for her according to Charles.

She just didn't think it could be a possibility _he_ would like her back. But if they're to believe the laws of the universe (and his body language when he learned that she knew about Charles's gift and her own opinion on it), there's a good chance he does finally.

"I'd like nothing more," he says the words she so wished to hear from him.

Jake releases a sigh of relief and shoots her a huge grin. He watches her without moving for a moment, eyes shining in the dark before he finally takes a step in her direction. He breaks the short distance between their two bodies by grabbing her waist and pulling her into a kiss. Amy's quick to answer, wrapping her own arms around his neck while his have made their way up her back.

They're both smiling blissfully when they part, the same thought going inside their minds: this felt good. This felt _right_.

(From afar, Charles catches their shared moment with a dreamy smile and a tear of joy falling down his cheek. The wedding bells never lie nor get mistaken.)

(Jake and Amy indeed get married three years later in front of the precinct where they once first met, a ceremony put together by Charles himself after he inadvertently ruined their first venue. They walk down the aisle hand-in-hand to the sound of _real_ wedding bells after sealing their union with a kiss and their friend nearly collapses when they pass by his seat.

It's the most magical day of their lives for the three of them.)


	106. These Arms Were Made for Holding You

As his colleague and partner on many cases, Amy's been dealing with Jake and his shenanigans for years now; be it when they're on door duty, collecting statements or even during interrogations. She still has vivid images in her mind of him playing with the electronics of a store that had just been robbed or literally breaking the mirrored glass of the interrogation room – and making _her_ take the fall for it.

She's always prided herself for not letting it affect her work, though. She simply tuned him out and didn't pay attention to whatever he might have been doing or rambling about next to her. Even after they started dating (after the disaster that had been their first case as a couple), she made sure they kept a professional environment and that his presence by her side wouldn't distract her from the job.

She succeeded in not letting him disturb her for years of partnership, both on the field and in their personal lives. But today might be her breaking point – and she can't even blame him for it.

They'd been on door duty for the last half-hour while investigating a murder when they knocked on the door of another one of the victim's neighbors. A woman with a crying baby in her arms opened to them, looking pretty overwhelmed by the situation.

"NYPD." Amy took out her badge and showed it to her, trying to keep her eyes focused on the potential witness and not the infant she was holding. "We'd like to ask you a few questions about the Cassidy murder."

"Sure. Come in." She stepped aside to let them enter the apartment.

Once inside, while Amy was already opening her notebook and taking out her favorite pen, she saw the woman turn towards Jake.

"D'you mind holding her for a minute?" She pointed at the baby, who was still wailing loudly.

"I, uh–…" He paused, his mouth half-open in hesitation as his eyes switched from the little girl to Amy and back to the woman. "Okay." He eventually nodded and carefully welcomed the infant into his arms.

He's been holding her since, rocking her around the living room and talking to her in the most adorable voices as an attempt to shush her cries while Amy's been busy asking questions.

Or at least trying to stay focused on their potential witness and ask questions without paying attention to her husband's doing.

Because even though it's technically not the first time she's seeing him with a baby – between Terry's youngest daughter, her own nieces and nephews and Iggy, she's had a lot of occasions to witness him around them in the past – it still manages to make her swoon and forget about her job for a moment as she can't retain her gaze from switching from that woman to Jake and the little girl.

Especially when the cries are eventually replaced with silence and then a small happy giggle. She watches as her husband has his whole attention focused on the few-months-old, unable to draw her gaze away from the pair as a dreamy smile forms on her features. There's a huge grin lighting up Jake's whole face and the baby's small hand curled around his left finger as she stares back at him with her big blue eyes.

His voice is soft when he starts talking to her and makes her laugh again. Amy's heart warms up in her chest at the sight and she feels the urge to bring her hand to her own stomach.

"Your colleague seems pretty good with babies," the woman she's been interrogating suddenly says, taking Amy out of her contemplation. Her ears are turning red from blushing as she brings her attention back to the lady; she can't help but feel embarrassed to have been caught staring instead of doing her job even if the woman looks just as mesmerized by the scene.

It's not completely her fault, she tries to reassure herself. She probably wouldn't be as distracted under other circumstances – but she's one month and a half pregnant and the news is still fresh in her mind (as well as Jake's absolutely _thrilled_ reaction when she told him their family would be getting bigger in just a few months). Hence the overwhelming feeling that's taking over her mind since seeing him in the company of a baby.

Plus the hormones.

She really can't wait to see him holding their own baby for the very first time. It's going to be _magical_ for sure – the most magical day of their lives.

"Yeah, he is…" Amy dreamily trails off with one last glance at her husband. This time he looks back at her and offers her a knowing smile before he brings his attention back to the girl in his arms and softly skims her small chubby cheek with his thumb. A loving beam soon reciprocates on her own features.

He's going to be such an amazing father – Amy has absolutely no doubt about that.

(It becomes all the more obvious when, during their ride back to the precinct, Jake starts rambling about how cute that baby was and how even cuter theirs is going to be. He can't seem to stop talking about it, shooting her quick glances with his eyes shining in pure bliss and bringing a hand to her belly, gently skimming at it with his thumb over her blouse. Amy's glad she's not the one driving; with her husband watching her like that and going on and on about a 'mini-them', she wouldn't be able to concentrate on the road for sure.)


	107. Kissing Tears from the Other's Face

Tears start falling down Jake's cheeks before he can form a single word when he looks up at Amy. Her own eyes are filled with similar salty pearls, glistening in the dark and quiet evidence lockup.

"You're…" He starts but immediately stops in his tracks, a rush of overwhelming emotions preventing him from talking more. He lowers his head towards the small plaque he's holding in his hands; the same small plaque he took out of its safe a few minutes ago, thinking he'd grabbed the annual Halloween prize and thus won the heist yet another year.

When he read the precious golden letters inscribed on the plaque though, he discovered he hadn't been declared an 'Amazing Human/Genius' after all. It was something even _better_.

Indeed, shining in front of him were instead written the magical words 'Amazing Human/ _Future Dad_.'

(Amy totally stole his move from when he proposed to her to surprise him with the news, and he'd definitely teased her about it if it hadn't been for the other thoughts that were running through his mind.)

He takes another careful look at it, just to be sure he didn't misread the information. But he didn't: the golden letters are still very much here, promise of a new crazy, wonderful adventure with the love of his life.

"You're… pregnant?" Jake eventually manages to ask – even if it's more like a rhetorical question than a true interrogation. His voice hits a higher note than usual at the last word, cracking a little.

 _Pregnant. Amy, his wife and the person he cares about the most in this world, is pregnant. With their future child. They're gonna be parents._

Another tear rolls down his face as he brings his eyes back on her, still completely awestruck by what all of this means. The blissful grin she's wearing on her own features and the small sniffing chuckle she lets out when she nods at him in return is enough confirmation to the already very explicit prize in his hands but she still answers him in a quiet whisper.

"Yes, I am."

That's his breaking point – he bursts into a pool of joyful tears as he breaks the small distance separating their two bodies and pulls Amy into a tight hug, holding her close to his chest.

"We're gonna be parents. I'm gonna be a _dad_ ," Jake whispers against her shoulder, still hardly believing it. He then takes a step back to stare at her. She looks as much of a mess as he does with her face and eyes red from her own non-stop crying. Yet she's literally glowing, and she's probably never been as beautiful as she is right now – bearing their _baby_.

He can feel the salty taste of her tears mingling with his own when he leans over again and suddenly captures her lips with his, kissing her breathlessly with his hands framing her face. When he draws away, it's only to let his lips land on her wet cheek, excitedly peppering small pecks across her face and kissing the tears away as he goes, unable to restrain himself from showering her with affection.

His heart is pounding in his chest with emotions, pulsing through his veins. He doesn't think he's ever been this happy in his entire life.

Jake eventually stills, resting his forehead against his wife's.

"We're gonna be parents," he lets out the words one more time with a satisfied sigh, the news sinking in for good inside his head. His eyes are barely open but he can see a beam instantly form on Amy's face. She brings one hand to his cheek, skimming dreamily at the skin there with her thumb and removing one last salty pearl on her way. His own free hand instinctively falls flat on her stomach.

 _There's a life growing there now_ , he can't help but marvel at the idea – especially when said life is the result of their own ever-growing love.

"I can't wait to start a family with you." She's the one breaking the distance and initiating the kiss this time.


	108. In the Wee Hours of the Night

If coming back home to an empty apartment hasn't been strange enough, Jake is completely stunned when he opens the door after he hears a knock and finds himself face-to-face with his very visibly _very drunk_ wife (she can barely stand on her two feet) holding onto… a just as shockingly _sober_ and _responsible_ Hitchcock?!

Jake knew Amy had plans to go to Shaw's and have a few drinks with the rest of the squad, but still – it's past 4 a.m., which means they stayed until closing time of the bar, something that usually _never_ happens. Even on the night of their wedding, they didn't stay this late (though they did stay up late enough to see the sun rising through the curtains of their room – they just needed some welcomed privacy away from the crowded place, plus the general celebrating mood quickly died down after Holt read the news about him not getting his dream job).

This night has almost reached its end but clearly, it's still full of surprises.

"Hi, babe!" Amy literally shouts the words when she meets his gaze. She tries to wave at him but almost loses her balance with the attempted gesture; he instinctively takes a step forward and catches her before she falls. He welcomes her into his embrace, releasing their colleague from her tight grip on his arm.

"I'm happy to see you too but if you could keep it down a little… I think people in the building would like to sleep." Jake amusedly smiles at her. She tries to smile back but it soon turns into a yawn.

"She was back at three drinks but then vomited again after she got off the cab and backed down to Loud Amy," Hitchcock explains. Jake shoots him, then his wife, a curious look. It seems like he missed out on a very wild night – and he probably won't get any details about it from Amy, or at least not before the morning after (if she remembers anything).

Indeed, as he glances at her, he sees her blink repeatedly; she's fighting hard not to fall asleep right here on the doorway. He can feel it in the way she's weighing heavier and heavier against his side too. He offers her another fond and loving smile. "Ooookay. Let's get you to bed, shall we?"

She nods her agreement against his shoulder. She's apparently too tired for words.

"Thanks Hitchcock, we'll see you on Monday at work," Jake looks up at the other man for a second then closes the door in front of him without waiting for an answer.

Slowly, ever-so-carefully, he walks Amy to their bedroom and sits her on the mattress. Her head keeps falling down while he takes her clothes off to get her more comfortable before tucking her in. Jake can't retain the small laugh that escapes his throat when she suddenly jerks her head back up in a moment of awakening and a grimace immediately forms on her face, surely due to the pain it caused to her dizzy head.

(He knows he should feel bad for her but all he can think about right now is how he won't have to make up an excuse later when they wake up to stay in bed and cuddle all morning during their shared day off. _She_ will be the one begging him to keep the lights off and do nothing.)

"Rough night?!" he teases when their gazes meet. The only answer he gets in return is a low grunt coming from Amy, who's already closing her eyes again. It makes him laugh a little harder.

She's adorable even at her worst.

"Okay, let's tuck you in now." Jake throws the covers over and gently leans her back when he's down undressing her and made her drink a glass of water. She doesn't try to resist and he soon joins her in, laying on his side of the bed. She doesn't waste any time after that to glue her body against his, seeking some of his warmth while wrapping her arms around his middle and entangling their legs together under the covers.

She then lets her head fall onto the crook of his neck and lets out a contented sigh.

(Post-drunken nights Amy is usually extra clingy and Jake's _loving it_.)

"You alright there, honey?" he asks when she's stopped moving. He can feel her breathing evening out against his ear. "World's not spinning too much?"

"Uh-huh." She shakes her head slowly. He feels something wet against his skin as she presses a small kiss on his neck with her head buried there. It sends shivers running down his spine. "I'm okay." Amy settles more against his side. "We saved Shaw's," she whispers into his ear and even though Jake has no idea why they could have lost the bar he still understands it makes her happy from the dreamy smile he can tell she's wearing on her lips.

(It somehow makes him happy too, despite not knowing the full story behind her enigmatic words – he definitely couldn't bear the thought of possibly losing one of the places where he keeps some of the best memories of his shared moments with his squad.

With his _wife_. Including the rest of their wedding night following the ceremony.)

"I'm glad you did," he simply answers, knowing all too well it's useless to ask to tell him more about it right now. She'll have all the time to update him on the latest news in the morning.

(He, too, has a lot to share with her regarding his latest encounter with Doug Judy and how things turned out.)

Jake takes one of her hands that's secured around his middle in his and brings it to his lips, pressing a soft kiss there. "G'night, babe."

He receives no other reply than a small snore coming from Amy's side. He slightly turns his head to be able to see her without disturbing her and watches her sleep for a minute, shaking his head with a small chuckle and his heart full of love for his wife. He then lets his head fall back onto his pillow and closes his eyes too. He puts his hands on top of hers and softly rubs their back with his thumb.

He's lulled to sleep by her even breathing against his ear and the feeling of her rising and falling stomach against his back.


	109. I Can Take You Out

**I Can Take You Out (The Chocolate Eclairs Await)**

Having to go undercover at some weird single people matchmaking event while working on a case with Amy isn't exactly how Jake imagined spending his Valentine's Day. Yet here he is, walking around a room packed with people in desperate search of the perfect fit for their lock or their key. That's the activity they've been signed up for, apparently – while the men of the group got a lock attached to their waistband, the women were given the keys at random and both parties had to mingle and try out said key or lock on everybody until they found the one that belonged with their part of the pair.

It's not like he had plans anyways. His love life has been reduced to nothing ever since Sophia dumped him a few months ago. There _is_ somewhere he'd like to go before it's closed, though: he's heard Tony's doing a couples' discount to celebrate the day – a special Giant Pizza to share with your significant other for the price of a normal-sized one – and he well intends to get that discount, significant other or not. He just needs to choose whether he's going to ask Charles or Gina to come with him.

While Charles might make things weird by unnecessarily getting a little too invested in their fake-romance, there's a greater chance he'll let him get the last slice of pizza _and_ pick its flavour. Which Gina won't.

Although this dilemma has been bugging him for far longer than it should now, it's not what's going around his mind as he follows the rest of the crowd and lets these strangers try out their keys on his lock. His eyes are scanning the room for any potential suspicious doings among the participants and all he can think about now are the possible phrases he could snap at their criminal when he and Amy finally catch him. The situation they're currently stuck in gives room for some _great_ lines – his head is literally buzzing with what he considers are smart ideas.

"Seems like it's been a waste of time." A voice and a sigh eventually take him out of his reverie when Amy joins him at his corner of the room after a full hour has past and nothing noticeable happened. "I didn't even find my match! I tried all the locks, none of them fit with this damn key!" She brings said key into the air in an annoyed gesture to make her point. A pout starts forming on her face, making Jake let out a small chuckle – _of course_ she'd get caught up in the game, no matter how stupid it was, and get upset she didn't 'win.'

"Samesies! I didn't find my match either!" He wants to reassure her, an amused grin lighting up his whole face until realization suddenly hits him and his smug smile fades at once. His eyes switch from her key to his lock and back to her face. He sees her ears starting to turn red in a blush as she stares right back at him. Jake sneaks a quick glance at the people around; they're all gathered in pairs, standing closely with their hips attached together while already getting lost in conversations or each other's eyes. He and Amy are the only ones left without someone, which can only mean one thing: they're each other's matches.

"I see you two finally found each other! Congratulations, it's better late than never!" The woman in charge of the event interrupts them before they have the chance to let out a single word. She puts her hands on both their shoulders to encourage them to take a step closer towards one another. She's literally beaming with excitement, clearly not feeling the tension that has fallen between the two friends nor reading the look on their faces. "Why don't you try it out?" she insists. "I'm sure it'll fit!" She lets out a giggle as she winks at them.

It looks like they don't have any other choice than to oblige to make her leave them alone and Amy seems to get that. She extends the hand that's holding her key towards Jake's waist where the lock is attached. He watches intently as she slowly puts the key in, unable to look away with his heart pounding faster and faster in his chest the closer Amy gets to his body. He stops breathing for a second when she inadvertently grazes his thigh with the tip of her fingers when she grabs the lock. Once the key is secured, she turns it around, and at first it _does_ go in perfectly. Until it doesn't anymore.

Amy pushes a little harder, her brows furrowed with focus as she does, but no matter how much force she applies, the key still doesn't move. Even when she gives up and tries to simply take it out, it seems that she can't.

"It's stuck," she announces as she brings her gaze back on Jake and the other woman. His eyes widen.

"What?"

"It's stuck," she repeats. She tries to stay calm but her partner can see she's starting to freak out a little at the idea of them being unable to draw apart.

"Let me see." She takes her hands away to give him space and Jake replaces her at attempting to unlock the key. He comes out just as successful as Amy.

"Yeah, it _is_ stuck." He watches as her expression falls deeper in distress.

"This is true love!" Once again, the woman beside them doesn't seem able to read the room as she lets out a dreamy sigh.

"What?!" Their attention suddenly switches towards her and they snap.

"Don't you see? This is fate! You two are meant to be together. You're _literally_ unable to let go even if you want to." She points at the lock and the key keeping their bodies close. Her eyes are literally shining.

Jake and Amy exchange a look. The expression on their faces soften, shyly fixing their gaze onto the other. They remain dead silent for a beat.

In his chest, Jake's heart is back at it again with the pounding. He can't take what the woman just said out of his head. Not that he believes in fate or anything – really, he doesn't – but he has to admit she's got a point: he _has_ been starting to think about Amy _romantic-stylez_ again for a few weeks now, even thinking about possibly asking her out and not doing the same mistake he did the previous year to wait until she's with someone to let her know how he feels.

Maybe this is his sign he should finally act on it instead of always postponing it like the coward he's been. Because that woman is at least right about one thing: it does seem like he's unable to let go of Amy even when he tried so hard to.

Watching her, Jake senses that Amy's lost in her thoughts as well, but he couldn't tell what's going on her mind right now – is she disgusted by such a thought or on the contrary, does she think about what they could be like in a relationship and _liking it_?! He knows there's only one way to know: ask her. But there's no way he's gonna do so while being literally stuck together at this insane single people matchmaking event.

It takes a good 15 minutes of awkward standing next to each other, doing their best not to invade each other's space too much despite their condition before the event's planner eventually goes looking for something to break the lock and break them free. They remain uncharacteristically – especially for Jake – silent the whole ride back, both lost in their own heads. It's only by the end of the day, when things have started to be normal again between them that Jake, who's been sneaking a few glances at Amy while packing their things before they head home, eventually stops and takes the floor.

"So… Do you have any plans for tonight?"

"Nope. It's only me, my bed and a good book. My one true love." Amy lets out a satisfied sigh as she looks up from her desk and back at him. "What about you?"

Jake pauses for a moment. He starts to play with the handle of his bag in a nervous tic. He's barely able to meet her eyes anymore.

"Well…" He clears his throat. "There's this couples' discount at Tony's that I was hoping to use tonight."

"Oh, so you've got a date?" She shoots him a smile before she seems to suddenly realize something. "Wait, don't tell me it's that girl from the matchmaking event who tried _three times_ to unlock your lock with her key. That woman was _desperate_. Though I have to give it to her, she was persistent."

Jake chokes out a laugh.

"Do I sense some jealousy in your voice, Santiago?" He teases then quickly falls serious again. He takes a deep breath before talking again to help get some confidence. "Actually, I was thinking maybe you'd like to come with me? It's great pizza. And there's this great deal…" He pitifully attempts to sell it to her without showing how much he's dying for her to say yes to his offer.

He's not so sure why he didn't think about her before. Or maybe he does: though there's no one he'd rather go out with, he was honestly picturing something fancier for a first date. Not that he asked her on a date. But still.

In front of him, Amy remains speechless for a moment. She stares at him with a confused frown creasing between her brows that weirdly turns into a laugh.

Her reaction makes Jake's heart clench in his chest.

"Are you asking me to be your fake-girlfriend for tonight?!"

"Maybe…?" he trails off hesitantly. "It's not like you'd have to really fake anything though," he quickly clarifies. "I don't think they'll check that we're a real couple. But y'know, we can go elsewhere if you don't like that place." The words leave his mouths before he can think about them.

"Isn't the discount at that _one_ place the reason why you want us to have dinner together, though?" She stares back at him. She now seems as lost as ever.

Clearly, Jake didn't think this through. Because on the one hand, he doesn't want for her to think he's not interested in her – it's time he stops running and finally admits his feelings, he realized that earlier already – but on the other hand he doesn't want her to believe he'd take her to such a cheap place with a cheap 'two-for-one'-like deal date on a first date.

If she is to agree on going out with him someday, he's gonna do it _right_.

He's kinda stuck right now, and it's all his fault.

"Yeah, you're right," he tells her in the end.

 _Another chance missed,_ he blames himself – even more so when his answer is met with nothing but silence for a while.

"Okay." Amy eventually talks again after a moment of consideration. She startles him with her words. He didn't think she'd accept anymore. But she does. "I'll come with you," she agrees with a soft smile.

Dinner goes perfectly. As always when he's with her, Jake spends the entire time teasing and laughing and talking about everything and anything – overall, he's having a great time. And it seems that Amy is enjoying their night too, if he's to judge by the huge happy grin that hasn't left her features ever since they entered the restaurant two hours ago already.

Time flew by like never before.

"Here, have the last slice." He pushes the almost-empty box closer to her side of the table to emphasize his offer.

Amy's eyes open big in front of him for a second, as if in shock, before she lets out a lighthearted chuckle and takes the slice. "Wow, such a gentleman, Peralta! Do you do that with each of your dates or should I feel extra-lucky tonight?!" She mocks but he doesn't snap back. He watches her intently instead, his heart warming up in his chest at the sound of her laugh.

 _Now_ 's the time to be honest, he decides.

"First of all, I'll have you know I _am_ a gentleman on a date." He sees as she amusedly shakes her head. "And second, this is not a date anyways. Because it would imply I dared to take you on a cheap date. Which I wouldn't."

"Oh yeah? And where would you take me?" Her voice is part-amused, playing along, and part-serious as she fixes her eyes deep into his.

"I guess… somewhere fancier? Like a restaurant with a French name, that's fancy. But not too fancy. You know I'm in debt. I would _not_ take advantage of any discount, though."

Amy closes her eyes for a second, as if trying to picture the place.

"Hm, yeah, sounds pretty good," she says with a smile – it's soft and there's no hint of teasing in her eyes anymore. It startles Jake how sincere she sounds.

"Really? You'd come with me? On a date?"

He catches the blush that's starting at the tip of her ears following his question. _Adorable_ , he can't help but think. Her answer takes him out of his contemplation.

"I don't know. Are you asking me to go on a date?" Amy stares at him.

Jake offers her a tender smile. "Maybe…?" And instantly her features soften. She smiles back at him.

"Then yes, I guess."

His eyes light up at her words and he can't retain his grin. He feels happier than he's ever been all of a sudden – though a little nervous as well.

He can hardly believe this is happening.

"Great. Cool cool cool. We could go tomorrow, then?" he offers. They still haven't gone separate ways from this one dinner together but he doesn't want to waste more time than they already have in the past. "I mean, if you want," he still adds not to sound too excited. But Amy only replies with a beam of her own.

"Tomorrow's great."

(He doesn't wait for their _real_ date either, even if it's only on the next day, to kiss her goodnight when he brings her home later that night. The way she kisses him back, just as fervently and hooking her arms around his neck to keep him close while his run up her back make him realize that Amy is just as unwilling to waste time as he is. They _do_ wait until their real date the next day to end up at his apartment though, a little intoxicated from the few drinks they had and the bliss of another fun evening spent together as well as the start of something _good_.)


	110. A Kiss that Tastes of the Food-Dessert

**A Kiss that Tastes of the Food/Dessert They Are Eating**

"Thank you. I'm taking this for the ride."

Amy watches as Jake stands up and grabs the small plate still full with half a piece of cake in front of him. She rolls her eyes at him as they finally pay their deposit and head towards the exit. They've spent the last 45 minutes in that bakery store, tasting different cake flavours to decide which one they'd like to have their future Nakatomi Plaza wedding cake filled with.

It's with a barely hidden disgusted pout she let her fiancé have the last word and settle on an all-frosting interior. This cake was her surprise for him, after all. So it was only fair she let him choose.

"Seriously, you can still eat after everything we had?!"

Amy looks at Jake taking a mouthful of the piece of cake he brought with him on their way to their car.

"It's free cake, babe!" He seems offended she could dare ask such a question. "Plus we have to take this tasting seriously. The cake is the last thing our guests will be eating at our wedding so it has to be _the best_. Y'know – if we want our nups to be toit." He raises his eyebrow at her in understanding before he takes another bite, as if to prove his point. "Want some?" he then offers but Amy declines.

"Y'know we already picked the flavour, though? _You_ did, after asking Jeremy to make us taste half of what he had in store."

(She's pretty sure he would have asked for more if they hadn't such a packed schedule ahead of them still.)

"I just wanted to be sure it was _the one_. Not every decision is an obvious one that comes with an epiphany, babe." He smiles at her knowingly and her face instantly softens as he reminds her of that sudden realization he got that _she_ was the one for him – the person he wanted to marry. She fixes her gaze on him; there's a crumb of cake on the corner of his mouth and somehow he looks adorable.

"Well, I'm sure people will _love_ the frosting," she teases ironically. Jake doesn't seem to catch the gentle mockery in her tone, though, because he simply agrees with her words.

"Of course they will. Nothing tastes better than chocolate frosting. Especially when put inside a Nakatomi Plaza-like cake." He's grinning and Amy lets out a light-hearted laugh at his enthusiasm.

She's really glad Jake likes her surprise for him. Even more so after the one _he_ got for her back at the florist store, when he went and asked for the flowers to be wrapped in _New York Times'_ crossword paper.

She absolutely loved the gesture and the meaning behind. They're going to have the _toitest nups_ for sure, and she can't wait for May 15th to finally come around.

In the meantime, they still have a lot to take care of – the flowers and cake and drinks were only the firsts of a long list of tasks they need to complete before the end of the day.

"Thank you for that by the way." Jake's voice, turned very serious, suddenly takes Amy out of her reverie. When she puts her eyes back on him, she can see his grin has turned into a more tender and very sincere smile too. "You didn't have to do that. It's not like I was _too_ serious and expected you to say yes when I suggested we should have a _Die Hard_ -themed wedding. Though I still think it would have been pretty cool if I joined you on the altar jumping off a roof like John McClane." His playful tone is quickly back.

Amy rolls her eyes.

"It didn't really work out the way you wanted last time you tried, babe, remember?" she gently mocks him. "I wouldn't like to have to say 'I do' while you're stuck in the air."

He pauses for a second, as if trying to picture the scene. He grimaces.

"You're right, it's probably for the better. I wouldn't want to miss our first kiss as newlyweds either."

Jake takes a step closer and, to emphasize his words, presses his lips against Amy's in a soft kiss in the middle of the empty street. She can feel the (now empty) plate against her side as he brings his hands to her waist to keep her close. She can taste the chocolate frosting and some hints of raspberry from the last piece of cake he ate as well. This taste of _wedding_ cakes on his lips makes Amy smile through the kiss. She wasn't too sure about his choice of chocolate frosting at first but now that she's trying it on _him_ , she has to admit it tastes _really_ good. It tastes like the promise of _forever_.

"So, where are we heading now?" Jake offers her his hand to take when they part. He's smiling broadly and dreamily at her.

 _Right,_ Amy's brought back to the reality of the moment with his words. It's true they still have a lot of work to do today if they want to tie this 'forever' with the best ceremony. She almost forgot about that, getting lost into that kiss.

She only needs one second to think about what's next on their list. "The photographer," she says as she intertwines her fingers with his and they keep walking towards their car hand-in-hand and with a blissful smile that won't leave their features. May 15th couldn't come sooner.


	111. A Sleepy Hug

Bros nights between Jake and Charles take on a whole new turn when the Santiago-Peralta family gets bigger. Indeed, as soon as little Ana is old enough to watch animated movies, they start bringing her and Nikolaj along to spend the night with their kids and initiate her to the Disney genre. It's a new tradition they both cherish deeply – the four of them curled up on the couch with snacks and drinks and a good movie that more often than none make their children giggle uncontrollably.

Sometimes Amy and Genevieve join in as well, and it becomes a real _family_ night like they wouldn't have it any other way.

Of course they still find moments when it's just the two of them enjoying an evening between friends but tonight's not the case. With his wife being expected to come home late from work, Jake thought it would be the perfect occasion to invite Charles and Nikolaj to come over for an evening at his apartment. (Also because he knows how hard it can be to put their daughter to bed when Amy's not around – he hopes some company and a movie will help make things less difficult.)

They're almost done with _Lady and the Tramp_ – it was the Boyles' turn to pick a movie and of course they chose the one about dogs and an iconic dinner date scene – and his idea seems to be working indeed: the little girl's head is weighing heavier against his side as it's obviously becoming harder and harder for her to keep her eyes open and focus on what's happening on the screen.

She's got her favorite teddy bear clutched against her chest and her left thumb in her mouth and for a moment, Jake's attention is drawn onto her only, the movie completely forgotten. He watches her with a dreamy smile then tenderly brings a hand to her dark curly hair (a trait she definitely inherited from him) and gently strokes it.

"Wanna go to bed, Ananas?" he whispers. The way she shakes her head in return makes her little curls bounce on the top of her head in the most adorable ways. She doesn't say a word, still sucking on her thumb with her eyes stuck on the television. Jake keeps staring at her carefully for a few more moments, debating on whether he should insist or not before deciding against it.

The movie is almost over; it won't hurt to let her finish it. Deep down he knows it's probably not the reason why she's fighting so hard to stay awake, though.

What she most likely wants is to be able to see her mother first – which might be complicated given how much work she told Jake she had to do tonight before she left the apartment in the morning.

That's why he's really surprised – and immensely happy – when the sound of a door opening resonates behind their backs less than half an hour later and he finds himself face-to-face with Amy standing in the doorway when he turns around to see who just came in. "Hi, babe!" He shoots her a huge grin that soon reciprocates on her own face.

He looks at her quickly kicking off her boots and hanging out her coat before joining everyone in the living room. She presses a soft peck on his lips to say hello and waves at Charles and Nikolaj.

"I thought you weren't supposed to come home before much later?" Jake whispers, frowning now in confusion.

"I know," Amy answers while her eyes drift towards the small form pressed against her husband's side. Jake follows her gaze; it seems like Ana has finally given in and started to doze off.

A smile, similar to the one that formed on his lips as his eyes set on the little girl, is already spreading across his wife's face too when he looks back at her.

"One of my Detectives offered to help so that I could leave earlier. She's been asleep long?" She doesn't dwell on the topic, nodding into their daughter's direction.

"Not really. She's been fighting sleep for a while. I tried to put her to bed but she didn't want to. I think she was trying to wait for you."

He sees as Amy's face softens even more with his words.

She lowers down to Ana's level and carefully brings a hand to her face to replace a loose strand of dark hair behind her ear. The girl squeals unconsciously against her touch then slowly opens her eyes.

"Mommy!" Her tiny, sleepy voice rises through the air when she recognizes who's there.

"Hi, baby," Amy greets her daughter with a broad smile. The child extends her hands in her mother's direction, and she leans over to let her secure her arms around her neck and brings her into a hug. Amy secures her own hands around her back and stands up, holding her baby close to her chest.

Jake – along with Charles next to him, who's put his whole attention onto the small family – watches the scene from his seat. His heart instantly warms up in his chest at the sight of this sweet mother-daughter moment he gets to witness between his two dream girls. Ana's grip is firm on the collar of her mother's blouse and her eyes are already closing again with her head laying in the crook of her neck.

Amy presses a soft kiss on the top of her head then exchanges a knowing look with her husband. "Let's put you to bed, okay?"

Ana slightly nods against her should in response as she settles herself even more comfortably into her mother's embrace. Now that she's inside Amy's arms, it's clear she has no will to fight against her tiredness anymore and is already drifting off again.

Jake takes it as his cue to stand up as well and follow his wife while she takes their daughter to her room so that they can tuck her in. Before they can leave though, Charles let out a dreamy sigh that makes them look back. "Look at this beautiful family…" he trails off with a beam on his face and his eyes shining with upcoming tears of joy. He unconsciously brings his own son closer to his side.

Jake shakes his head at his best friend's reaction – it's been more than three years now but it seems like Charles hasn't calmed down about the thought of Jake and Amy with a child one bit.

They don't bother answering him; simply go on with their course and take Ana to her bed. Amy carefully lies her down and tucks her in with a kiss and a hug while Jake waits for his turn a little behind. He then approaches her.

"Goodnight, Ananas," he whispers softly. Despite the exhaustion still very visible on her face, the little girl, just like she previously did with her mother, extends her hands in his direction to bring her father into a hug. She hides her head into his neck for a minute as he keeps her close before he draws away and kisses her cheek.

Satisfied now that she got to hug both her parents goodnight, Ana is quick to close her eyes and let sleep take over her without arguing. Jake and Amy don't leave her room just yet; they watch their daughter for a little while in the dark and quietness of the place with a dreamy smile lighting up their faces. Amy lets her head fall against Jake's shoulder when he circles her waist with his arm and she lets out a contented sigh. It seems that Ana wasn't the only tired one.

"The movie must be finished now, I can ask Charles to leave so that we can go cuddle in bed. Nikolaj will need to sleep soon anyways," he offers.

He shoots his wife a knowing look when she straightens up and watches him with a fond smile. She nods in return, fighting back a yawn.

"Sounds like a great plan." She presses her lips against his in a tender kiss before she settles back against his side for a little longer.


	112. A Wet Comforting Bad News Hug

**A Wet Comforting "I Just Received Bad News" Hug**

Despite the actual – and truly unexpected – good news they come home with, Amy's still in shock when they enter what's soon to be her and _Jake's_ apartment.

(Not that he can really linger much into that happy thought right now.)

She goes inside the room without a word, as mute as she was during the whole ride from the hospital (and even as they were waiting back there – except for when she'd creepily break into songs from the Great American Songbook) and stops at the doorstep. She looks around for a moment. It seems as though she doesn't quite know what to do next and is stuck in some kind of trance.

Jake's heart, already shattered from the events of the day, breaks a little more at the sight she offers.

She's wearing his leather jacket and if it were another day, another occasion he would definitely find it somehow fits her better than it does him. He would make a suggestive comment about it and she'd probably roll her eyes at him while still blushing at the compliment, starting at the tip of her ears. But this is not another day nor another occasion and right now all he can think about is the reason why he gave her the jacket in the first place.

He gave her the jacket because she was cold, and she was cold because she had to take out her own coat because it was covered in blood. Their _friend_ 's blood. Who had been declared dead for two full minutes before miraculously coming back to life.

They almost lost Gina today.

"She woke up. She's stable now. It looks like she'll make it." Jake tries to remember the – reassuring – words from her doctor after all these awful hours of not knowing anything about her condition.

It took so long for them to get any update he actually got the time to helplessly witness Amy braid and de-braid her hair three times. Last time he saw her jump that quickly from one level to another in her Santiago Panic Scale was right before he got sent to Florida, and he truly wished he would never have to see that side of her ever again.

(It's better if he doesn't try and think about the moment he finally entered his oldest friend's room and saw her for the first time after the accident, though. Being alive did _not_ mean being – nor looking – well.)

Amy's coat isn't the only piece of her clothes covered in blood. There are a few red stains standing out on her usually impeccable navy blue blouse as well. And if he looked down, he could still see the remnants of what he already managed to help her wash out her hands back at the hospital stuck under her nails. He hasn't asked for details, but it's easy to put two and two together and understand that she tried to stop the bleeding while waiting for 911 to arrive at the scene of the accident.

"Let's get you changed, okay?" He helps her out of his jacket to emphasize his words and make her move then leads her to their room.

He takes her favorite NYPD T-shirt, the one she loves to sleep in, out of her pile of fresh clothes while she still silently starts to work on the buttons of her blouse.

Her hands are shaking so much in the process though, panicking at the sight of the blood on her knuckles that he has to step in and do it for her.

"Hey, it's alright. You're alright. Gina's okay now. She'll be just fine," he tries to whisper reassuring words.

Amy watches him undress her with her eyes fixed on his hands.

"She was _dead_." Her voice is so low he almost doesn't hear her – but he does, and he _does_ catch the tremors and desperation in her tone too. His heart misses a beat at the sound of it.

When he looks up at her face, he sees there are tears falling down her cheeks as she's finally breaking down. She was too in shock earlier to even cry.

"They couldn't feel her pulse. There was _no_ pulse."

She's clearly spiralling. Her breathing is sharp and her shoulders start shaking with unstoppable sobs and although it's obviously hard to see her like that, Jake's somehow relieved she's finally letting all of her emotions go. It surely wasn't good to keep it all in for all this time.

"Shhhh." He stops what he's doing and pulls her into a hug. She immediately wraps her arms around his shoulders and buries her head into his neck.

Jake can feel the tears wetting his own shirt but he doesn't care. All he cares about right now is Amy and what he can do to make her feel better; how to take her mind off the traumatic event she witnessed.

"You heard what the doctor said." He holds her tighter and turns his head to press a soft kiss into her hair. He gently strokes her back with his hand in a comforting gesture, running up and down, _up and down_. "She's gonna make it. Plus it's Gina – she wouldn't let Charles be the last person whose text she reads before she dies."

He tries to joke but the words have a bittersweet taste in his mouth. The image of his best friend in a just as traumatized state of mind (if not worse) as Amy is still very vivid and extremely painful.

 _"_ _It's my fault… I should have never sent that text… I should have never asked to be part of the group chat again…"_ He couldn't stop blaming himself.

Jake shakes his head to focus. Now's not the time to dwell on that dreadful memory. Not when he's got his girlfriend sobbing inside his arms.

The joke still seems to work though as he feels her body shake against his with a small chuckle through her tears. He counts this as a victory and smiles.

He rests his head on top of hers after another kiss there.

They remain wrapped in their embrace for a little longer until Amy eventually draws away by herself. Jake carefully studies her as she wipes some of her tears off her face then fixes her gaze on him.

She seems a lot less traumatized than before and really, it's a relief. There's nothing more dreadful than seeing his girlfriend, the woman he loves _so much_ , in such an awful state.

"Y'know what I couldn't stop thinking about while we were waiting for some news at the hospital?"

Clueless, Jake shakes his head in response.

"About how you never watch when you cross the street and how it could have so easily been you I had to watch get hit by a car."

 _Again_ , she doesn't say but it's very much implied in her tone. Though she technically didn't _see_ him at the time, he _did_ get hit as well in the past – but he thankfully got a lot luckier than Gina in the process.

(Maybe if he wouldn't he would be more careful with it now. Maybe _their friend_ would have been scared enough to never do the same mistake as he did. He knows he won't ever do it again now, after what happened to her.)

(After what Amy just revealed.)

"I–…" His own heart stops for a full second at the confession. Guilt quickly washes over him as he learns he was partly responsible for Amy's panic.

"I'm so sorry, babe." He lowers his head. "I promise I'll be more careful now. This whole thing kinda freaked me out too." Jake brings his eyes back on her to show how sincere he is about this. She offers him a smile in return; it's shy but it's still something – actually it's the first since the accident happened.

 _Another victory._

She slowly grabs his hand and intertwines their fingers together.

"Good. Because I couldn't bear the thought of losing you. Especially for something as stupid as that when we face danger every day with our jobs."

"I couldn't bear the thought of losing you too." He extends his free hand to her face and wipes a few remaining tears with his thumb before pulling her into another hug. "Today was so scary." He eventually lets out his own fears with a sigh now that Amy seems to have calmed down, whispering the words against her back.

He feels the grip of her arms around his body tighten after that.

"It was," she agrees as she settles herself deeper into the embrace.

(But thankfully it's over now. Thankfully another day is about to begin, a brighter future full of recovery for Gina and exciting changes for Jake and Amy as he's about to move into her apartment, taking their relationship to a whole new level.)


	113. You're the Wisest Funny One

**You're the Wisest Funny One that I Will Ever, Ever Know**

It's around hour 1:15 that Jake's bored mind starts drifting off towards Amy and how she would love it if she were in his place. He's fidgeting with his wedding ring, thinking about her and how he can't wait to see her at home when the idea pops into his head that he should take her there for a date night. It makes the wait so much more bearable; trying and remembering Holt's every word to impress her later with his unexpected knowledge of barrel-making gives him a purpose. Associating the facts he learns with Amy's potential reactions to them turns the remaining two hours into a much funnier moment than he ever expected it would be, and he's wearing a full grin when he buys Yanya two tickets for Friday night before he leaves. (Not that he really needs to – he highly doubt the exhibition will ever be sold out. But him buying tickets in advance? It's definitely gonna please his wife.)

He's got an awesome idea for sure.

She's already home when he arrives, sitting on the couch with a trash bag at her feet and a few personal things methodically arranged on the table in front of her. She seems so focused on whatever she's doing that she barely turns around to shoot him a smile when he passes the front door.

"Hi babe. What do you think I should keep?" she points towards two of the items when he approaches her. Jake presses a soft kiss to her lips as he sits next to her. He then fixes his gaze on the table, brows furrowing in slight confusion.

"I don't know? Both?"

He's not the best at getting rid of things (much to Amy's regret).

She rolls her eyes at him. "You're not helping." Then brings her attention back onto the items and after a short pause, puts one into the trash with a contented sigh.

Jake amusedly shakes his head as he watches her; he's not so sure what he's witnessing right now.

"Anyways. I have a surprise for you!" he joyfully exclaims.

The words immediately catch Amy's attention. She abandons everything she was doing before and turns around to look him in the eyes. She's wearing an intrigued smile on her face.

"Really? What is it?"

"Do you know there's a barrel-making exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum of Industry?"

"I do." She nods and smiles. "Y'know I've subscribed to this monthly magazine that lists all the new exhibitions in museums in New York. But how do _you_ know?!" It's easy to tell by the way she stares at him that she didn't expect him of all people to have heard of such an event.

"I was there with Holt this afternoon. Long story," he adds when he sees the look she shoots at him – he'll have all the time to tell her all about that whole Gordon-the-spy story later. "But I got us tickets. Friday night. You and me." To emphasize his words, Jake takes the tickets out of his pocket. "What do you say?" He's proudly grinning, impatiently waiting for Amy's reaction.

A reaction that is soon to come, and he can tell the exact moment the information fully reaches her brain. The expression in her eyes switches suddenly as they grow bigger in surprise… and a little arousal.

 _(Bingpot!)_

"Seriously? You want to go there? _Again?!_ " She's definitely startled.

"Yeah. I learned a few facts I think you'll find really interesting," he says in a suggestive voice as he wriggles his eyebrows and beams at her. If he's to trust her body language right now, he made the right call.

Amy is loving his surprise.

(Not to brag, but he's truly nailing this husband thing.)

"Oh, mama…" Amy whispers before she leans over. She scoots closer to his side and, instead of showing her excitement about their upcoming night through words, cups his face and kisses him fiercely.

Jake chokes back a laugh when they part. "Wow. You really like that surprise, don't you?!"

She blushes a little at that, the tip of her ears turning a new shade of red. "Mmmhmm." She brings him in again for another searing kiss.

He's got an awesome idea indeed.


	114. You Say I Am Held When I'm Falling Short

**TW: the assault we learned about in 6x08 isn't truly mentioned, but it is hinted at.**

* * *

 **You Say I Am Held When I Am Falling Short (And I Believe)**

She almost tells him.

She's never told anyone before. It's been years since it happened and most days she manages not to think about it too much, but this new step she's trying to take in her career is bringing back some painful memories she'd rather forget. She knows if she were ever to tell anyone it'd be him. She could trust him with her life. Even before they started dating he was the one she'd turn to whenever she needed to talk to someone about something. _Anything._

She listens to him, listens to his words that bring a smile to her face and help tame her demons a little and she almost tells him. Almost shares her past and fears and why this is so important to her. How this is revenge – against life, against her ex-captain, against the voice in her head that keeps trying to persuade her she doesn't deserve being where she is right now even after all these years. Even if she's proven her worth as detective tons of times in the past – and still does, day after day on the field.

She's amazing at her job and she'll be even better at being a sergeant. She worked her ass off to pass this exam and she didn't take help from anyone.

She _does_ deserve the promotion.

(She _did_ deserve the previous one too.)

Despite everything, it feels a little surreal to Amy that of all people, _Jake_ would become the one she'd want to tell her story to now. She remembers her first day at the Nine-Nine, how both relieved and scared she was feeling after the circumstances in which she left her last precinct. She remembers Charles's comment about hearing wedding bells upon their encounter and how she worried she'd walked into a similar place than the one she'd just run away from.

It took her so long to get past this and truly appreciate her partner from the opposite desk.

Yet if he were to get down on one knee right there, on this rooftop so meaningful for them and ask her to marry him now, she wouldn't hesitate one second to say yes.

(Little does she know there _is_ a little box and a ring hidden somewhere in their apartment and waiting for Jake to propose on the right occasion.)

She wants to share her story with him but in the end she doesn't. Maybe someday she will, but right now it's still too painful; as she's on the verge of passing her sergeant exam, the fear of what speaking up could do to her career is still all too real – even after all these years.

Even if it's _him_.

She's scared and she doesn't tell him about her past but then _he_ tells _her_ she's too good to be afraid to be successful and suddenly her world seems a little bit brighter. She feels a little bit better. Most of all, she somehow believes it. She believes _him_.

She _is_ good indeed – and she damn right deserves her promotion.

 _"I'm gonna be a sergeant!"_

 _"_ _You're gonna be a sergeant!"_

(They've been married for a few months and she's been a sergeant even longer than that when a case comes up and she eventually opens up to him, and the way he reacts to her story makes her realize once again that she couldn't have asked for a better husband for sure.)


	115. It's All an Adventure

**It's All an Adventure that Comes with a Breathtaking View**

Much like several other things in her life – her famous Drunkenness Scale or Panic Scale, just to name these two –, Amy's pregnancy symptoms come in a scale as well as months go by and bring her closer to the birth of her and Jake's baby.

It started with the usual morning sickness, followed with weird cravings her husband worked his hardest to satisfy as best as he could, then a very blissful period of her being constantly horny but now, as she's entering her seventh month of pregnancy it seems like they've reached a whole new level of her Pregnancy Scale: the crying spells.

Jake's coming home from a long day at work when he sees her sitting legs crossed on the couch with a binder displayed next to her. She looks up when she hears him and he immediately catches the tears falling down her cheeks and her puffy eyes. He hurries to her side, worried that something happened.

"You okay, babe?" He lowers down to her level and takes one of her hands in his. He gently rubs its back with his thumbs.

Amy sniffles and brings her free hand to her face, removing some of the salty pearls off her face.

"Yeah, everything's fine." She nods as she offers him a sincere, reassuring smile. Jake smiles back at her then lets his gaze wander down to what she was working on.

He recognizes the binder almost immediately; he's seen it before, during several occasions. That's where Amy keeps all the pictures and reminders of their story – things she collected through the years, even from before they started dating.

(Jake most definitely cried the first time she showed it to him not long after they came back from the cruise where they voiced how much they cared about the other for the very first time. He still teased her through his tears about how _bad_ she had it for him for so long and she rolled her eyes before shushing him with a searing kiss.)

Right now it's open on the double-page dedicated to their wedding day. The sight of their overjoyed smiles as they're walking down the aisle as husband and wife instantly warms up his heart.

Despite everything that occurred, this was still the best day of Jake's life – although he's pretty sure the upcoming birth of his and Amy's child will beat it, if only by a few.

"Is this why you're crying?" His voice is soft when he lands his eyes on her and asks.

She nods again, looking away as if she's ashamed to admit a simple peek at their binder is what triggered this huge outburst of emotions.

"Yeah, I–… I wanted to fill out a new page with these pictures…" Amy hands him copies of past ultrasounds she had kept next to her and Jake's heart melts once more as well. "But then I got caught up going through the binder again and I just…" She takes a short pause. Jake stares at her as he waits for her to go on – he can see the tears start to well up again in her eyes.

(Damn, he wishes their child is going to have her eyes. He wishes it'll inherit _a lot_ of her, to be quite honest.)

"We're gonna have a baby, Jake!" Amy lets out the last words through a sob, apparently hit with a new wave of emotions. "We were just colleagues and now we're gonna have a baby!"

Somehow, even if they've known it for months now, hearing her say that like this brings tears prickling in his eyes as well.

(He can't blame it on the hormones, though. Not that he wants to anyway. He's just _so happy_ he's starting a family with the love of his life – these are not the first, nor the last tears he'll cry thinking of this new adventure awaiting them.)

Jake stands up and pushes the binder away a little to take a seat next to his wife on the couch. He opens his arms and invites her to comfortably settle against his side, which she immediately does.

"I know." He softly strokes her arm and plants a kiss on the top of her head. He then lets his gaze fall on her now very prominent stomach and his lips curve up in a dreamy smile. "It's amazing how far we've come, uh?"

"It is." Amy's still crying; he can feel her tears wetting his hoodie as she lets her head rest against his shoulder. He holds her closer and for a moment, none of them talks.

"I think I've reached a new stage in my Pregnancy Scale." Amy eventually breaks the silence when she's calmed down a little. She straightens up, her gaze back on Jake.

"You think?" He teases as he replaces a strand of loose hair that was sticking against her cheek behind her ear.

She gently hits him in mock-annoyance.

"Yeah. I've been crying all day about the most stupid stuff. Last time was because I couldn't find my phone and I got mad because I wanted to text you. Turns out it was in my pocket all along."

Jake retains a snort.

"Crying because you can't reach your _amazing_ husband isn't stupid, though. I'd be upset too if I couldn't talk to me."

He offers her a smug smile and Amy answers with a roll of her eyes and a shake of her head. It only makes him laugh a little harder.

"If someone should be called 'amazing' in this marriage right now, it's me. I'm the one doing all the work carrying our baby here, remember?!"

"I know, babe." Jake's tone goes from playful to suddenly full of sincerity. "And you _are_ amazing. The best, even."

The smile he's wearing on his face is a lot softer now too. She smiles back at him, something big and filled with emotion – he can actually see tears forming in her eyes again, making them shine. Amy doesn't say anything; she simply leans closer to him and presses a soft kiss on his lips.

"I love you so much," she then eventually whispers.

"I love you so much too." Jake removes one lost salty pearl off her face with his thumb as they part.

"Wanna fill out this new chapter of our life together?" Amy points in direction of the binder after taking a deep breath to regain some composure.

Jake beams at her.

"You know I do."


	116. I Got All I Need When I Got You and I

He missed his shots.

David Santiago – _perfect, never-fails-anything-in-life_ David Santiago – missed his shots. Amy's world collapses as her heart drops in her chest.

She has to watch, helpless, as the criminals are getting away and taking her husband along with them.

 _Jake…_

"Give this to me!"

Amy fiercely snatches the gun out of her brother's hands and starts shooting at the car. It's useless, really; the vehicle is too far away for her to reach it now, especially given that she's got tears inside her eyes obstructing her view and her hands are shaking with the pressure. She might have received a gold certification in marksmanship only the previous week but the chances of her getting this _one_ shot perfectly are pretty thin.

It doesn't stop her from trying.

She keeps shooting, bullet after bullet, but it's too late. No matter how hard she tries or how much she focuses on the task, she simply can't reach the damn car.

 _This_ is why she let David do it. Because there was too much at stakes, with her husband's safety on the line and she couldn't risk it. Because he's supposed to be better than her – better than _anyone_. Their mother made that pretty clear their whole lives.

But he missed his shots. And now _Jake_ is missing.

A single tear rolls down her cheek.

"Amy, stop!" The other Santiago forces her to lower her gun and look at him. "This is useless. Let's get in the car and follow them. We _won't_ let them get away, I promise. We'll get him back."

He's right – of course he is – and at another time it would have infuriated her that he is. But right now it doesn't; right now the reassuring look on his face and the softness in his voice are all she needs to get out of her trance and start thinking like a cop again. She can't break down – not if she wants to fall asleep with her arms wrapped around her husband's warm body tonight.

She doesn't waste her time saying anything. Simply nods and starts running towards their own vehicle, already taking out her phone to track Jake's device.

 _ _Please don't be turned off…__ she silently prays.

The ride is spent in utter, heavy silence. Amy keeps her eyes fixed on the screen of her phone and the two little dots on the map following one another around New York City, heading North, until one of them eventually stops. She tells her brother to park a few blocks away not to be noticed and they continue their course by foot, still quiet with their guns held in front of them.

There's not a sound around them as they walk passed empty gloomy streets in the dark of the night. It's so silent even that Amy can almost hear her pounding heart resonate inside her ears. The atmosphere is heavy and smells like crime and __death__ _,_ and it's really hard for her not to think about the past half hour and what could have happened on the other vehicle's way to here.

What could be happening __right now__ , as she and David are heading towards the building where her husband is supposedly held captive.

She shakes her head, trying to chase away the thoughts. She can't let her mind wander off like this. This isn't helping Jake.

Eventually they find the mobsters' car parked in front of an abandoned building and Amy rushes in its direction. Of course it's empty now but as she looks through the window for a sign, __any__ sign of any sort despite how little she can see through them, she lets out a horrified gasp when she spots what she believes is a stain of blood on one of the backseat's seats.

She can't tell if it's fresh – __damn__ this tinted windows.

As determined as she's ever been, Amy takes a step towards the building but David stops her before she can go too far.

"We should wait for backup. We don't know how many people there are inside and there's only two of us."

 _Again_ , she knows he's right – but this time she __hates__ that he is.

"My __husband__ is in there, all because __he__ convinced me we should help __you__ with __your__ problems," she snaps – because really, being mad is all she can do right now.

"I know. I'm sorry." David takes her hand in his and squeezes gently. "I sincerely am."

She can tell by the look on his face that he is. Amy closes her eyes and sighs to regain some composure.

"It's okay. Jake's right. If it were you in there with these criminals, I'd be worried too and couldn't forget myself for not doing anything."

She manages a small smile at him and he smiles back. Despite everything, she's glad he's here with her during such hard and scary times.

"There's an entrance right there. Let's see if we can get a glimpse of what's going on inside."

The two siblings approach the building very quietly and very carefully.

"Damn, you smell so __good__. What's that smell?"

A voice – _Jake_ 's voice, Amy recognizes it easily – suddenly rises through the air not so far away. A pang of relief runs down her spine at the sound of it (he's _alive_ ) and she quickens her pace towards where it came from.

"Shut up!" Someone answers him. The relief washes off her body pretty suddenly with this new voice – it's much more menacing than her husband's.

 _"_ _ _Outch."__ She hears him wince in pain, making her heart clench in her chest. "Is that how you react to a compliment?!"

"Who sent you?!" the other voice asks in the same severe tone as previously. He's clearly not amused nor pleased.

There's a short pause after that, during which Amy and David finally enter the building. They hide behind a wall and sneak a peek at the scene – they can see what's happening in there now; if only partially. Amy's view of Jake is obstructed by a huge guy (most logically the owner of the severe voice) standing in front of him but from the little she can get, he seems tied up on a chair.

"Who sent you?!" the guy repeats and as he does so, brings out a gun that he points to his head. This time, Amy sees __clearly__ how Jake's eyes grow bigger for a second and how he clears his throat.

(She also gets a glimpse at his face, at the red stain of blood at the corner of his lower lip and his black eye. Her heart sinks again.)

She lets out a horrified gasp.

"We gotta do something! He's gonna get himself killed if he doesn't talk!" Amy turns over to her brother, who's been watching the scene too. She tries to keep her voice in a low whisper despite the extremely stressful situation and all the worst scenarios going on her mind right now as her husband's got a gun pointed at his head only a few meters away from them.

David looks around in complete silence for a minute.

" _ _Please__ David. Tell me you've got a plan. I can't lose him." Her voice breaks with the last words. She's spiralling, and she knows it's not helping but she can't help it. She can't think straight.

Not when her husband's literally got a __freaking gun pointed at his head only a few meters away from them__ _._

(It's not the first time he has, and it's not the first she witnesses it either, but this time she's not there to point a gun at their opponent as well.)

(To shot him in the leg and save his life.)

"Don't make me ask you again." In her back, the mobster threatens and her fear intensifies.

 _ _Think, think, think…__ Amy searches for an escape but nothing comes.

 _Damn_ , she can't lose him. He's too important to her. She loves him too much. Her eyes well up and her heart clenches as she can already hear the gunshot and picture the blood all around the chair.

She can picture __him__ …

" _ _I__ did."

Her brother's voice suddenly takes Amy out of her dark thoughts. She barely has the time to register what's happening or talk him out of it that he's already getting out of their hiding space and walking into the light, revealing himself to his nemesis.

 _ _Idiota__ _,_ she can't help but think.

* * *

Knowing him, Amy probably shouldn't be surprised about it but in some miraculous way, David's stupid plan turns out not to be so stupid in the end. They somehow manage to arrest the mobsters just in time for backup to arrive and pick the criminals up. Of course, as soon as they hear about what happened and how they got the bad guys, everyone starts gushing about her brother's selflessness, risking his life to save Jake's without thinking about it for a second.

For once though, Amy couldn't care less.

She couldn't care less because while everyone else is busy taking care of the criminals and listening to the story of Jake's rescue, she rushes to her __safe and sound__ husband who's still tied up but completely out of danger. While they all praise David with words of admiration, it's the love of her life she gets to talk with.

"Are you okay?!" She carefully studies his injured face when he's finally up and out of his ties.

Thankfully, it doesn't look as bad as she first imagined it would be.

"Yeah. Everything's fine." He offers her a reassuring smile before looking away for a second. "I'm sorry David stole your thunder by saving me again." He points to the direction of the little crowd formed around her brother.

Amy follows his gaze, glancing at the scene before she puts her full attention back on her husband. She puts her two hands on his shoulders, going up his neck and letting them rest on his cheek. She gently removes a stain of blood with her finger and stares at him with a smile.

"Are you kidding?! I don't care about that. All I care about is that you're safe. You're so much more important than any rivalry between us or any dumb picture on a mantle. I'm __so glad__ he saved you."

Jake beams back at her as he brings his own hand to her arm. "Aww. Well I'm okay. Promise."

"Good."

Amy takes a step forward and leans over, pressing a soft kiss on his lips. Jake's hands naturally fall on the small of her back and he brings her closer to his chest. When they part from the kiss, she doesn't let go of him just yet; instead she wraps her arms further around his shoulders and lets her head rest in the crook of his neck. She takes a huge breath as she hugs him tight.

She's got so scared she was going to lose him.

( _ _Again__ _._ )

(For good.)

But thankfully, she _will_ sleep with her arms wrapped around his warm body tonight.

"I love you so much," she whispers against his skin, barely audible then looks up at Jake.

"I love you so much too." He looks at her with the softest look anyone's ever given her in her entire life and in the moment, she can't think of anything that matter more than _he_ does.


	117. Kisses Exchanged as They Move Around

**Kisses Exchanged as They Move Around + Laying a Gentle Kiss to the Back of the Other's Hand**

It's almost past 3 a.m. and they haven't slept in 24 hours but still Jake and Amy are wide awake when they finally make their way back home after a full day.

It's partly because of all the coffee cups they downed, partly because of the few celebratory drinks they shared with the squad at Shaw's and are still kicking but mostly, it's because of the adrenaline coursing through their veins following the huge surprising turn this year's Halloween heist took – aka. Jake's proposal.

 _They're getting married._

Jake barely has the time to close the door behind them that his _fiancée_ , who hasn't left his side one second since he put that little ring on her left finger earlier that night, is already coming at him. She cups his face and takes assault of his lips with a fierce and passion he's come to recognize with time is typical of 4-drink Amy.

His owns arms find their way to her waist and he pulls her closer to his chest as he answers her heated kiss. He's kissed her tons of times in the past and will get to kiss her tons of others in the future but doing so as an _engaged couple_ is still pretty new and damn, does it feel good. It feels like the comfort of the habitual and the excitement of a new adventure.

Their own little happy beginning.

 _They're getting married._

Amy lets her hands slide along his shoulders, working on removing his already open plaid with her mouth still on his as she invites Jake to move.

They barely pay attention to their surroundings and never pull apart as they make their way towards the bedroom, with heavy breaths and pounding hearts. They're still kissing when Amy makes him lose his grip on her body for a second so that she can let his plaid fall to the ground; his lips are still on hers when her back hits their couch, letting out a small grunt in pain and he tries to mouth an apology against her skin.

It's only after they reach their bed that they eventually draw away a little, if only for a minute. When he looks into her eyes, Jake can see pure bliss glowing inside Amy's irises among the otherwise lust and burning desire and love, _so much_ love shining there.

He's pretty sure a similar expression is reflecting in his own brown eyes and they're thinking about the same thing.

 _They're getting married._

Like, for realz. It's happening. He's finally got the chance to propose to her after all these months working on his secret plan.

Which obviously requires its own, intimate celebration now that they're alone and home and falling onto the mattress with Amy's mouth back on his.

 _They're getting married._

* * *

They haven't slept for more than 24 hours and now the exhaustion starts to kick as Jake and Amy are quietly lying in bed. Their breaths are slowly slowing down to normal as they're still wrapped in an intimate embrace. Amy's head is resting against his shoulder and his own arm is around her. They've fallen into comforting silence as she distractingly plays with Jake's chest hair and he watches her do.

There's a sleepy smile on her face and a dreamy glint in his eyes at the sight of the small ring on her left finger.

It's standing out from his pale skin, the little diamond shining in the dark of the room and Jake can't help but think that _this is it_. This is what the rest of his life is going to look like.

A life where he gets to go to sleep with his soulmate by his side every night – and he couldn't imagine anything better than that.

They've had enough separations and reunions during the past few years (until very recently) for him to learn that nothing feels more like _home_ and _joy_ than Amy Santiago.

"What're you thinking about?" she breaks the silence after a while, looking up at him with the same smile she's been wearing since he popped the question.

"About you," Jake confesses.

He takes the hand that's laying on his chest in his free one. He dreamily brushes the tip of the ring with his thumb, a small beam forming on his own features before he brings her hand to his face. He kisses it ever so gently, right under the diamond. The press of his lips is so much softer than any other kisses he previously trailed on her skin in the heat of the passion but it still manages to send a shiver running down Amy's spine with the touch.

"About all the nights we're going to spend together until we're grey and old and how happy it makes me that I'll get to always fall asleep next to you."

Amy lets out an amused chuckle.

"You're so cheesy," she teases him and in return, Jake pouts in mock-offence – he wants to remind her it's partly _her_ fault he's become more comfortable with his emotions with time. It makes her laugh a little more before she falls serious again. She takes the hand he grabbed off his and brings it to his face. She tenderly strokes his cheek as she stares deep into his eyes. "But the thought that we're going to spend the rest of our lives together makes me so happy too."

"Now _you_ 're the cheesy one," Jake jokes, making her roll her eyes.

But then he shoots her a knowing smile and turns his head to plant another kiss on Amy's hand. "It's gonna be such toit nups."


	118. You Pulled Me In

**You Pulled Me in and Together We're Lost in a Dream**

"You owe me big time."

Jake lets out a grunt when the music stops and he abandons his partner to join Amy again, not amused.

It's not just the fact that she tricked him into dancing with an old woman who kept touching his butt during the whole duration of the song – it's the hope she brought to his heart for a second that she was asking him to dance with _her_. It filled his heart with utter joy and a well-known feeling he thought he'd locked away enough and damn, he was really a fool for believing he was over her.

(For believing she would actually want to slow dance with him, too.)

"Why's that?" Amy plays the innocent card. "You and Susan didn't click? Because you sure seemed to be getting along very well on that dancefloor."

Her eyes are shining with amusement as she's grinning widely. She's apparently still very proud of the prank she pulled on him. The softness with which she looked at him just mere moments ago while he was dancing and she was watching is still in there as well, hidden behind the newly retrieved playfulness of her expression and god, does she look adorable.

He's screwed.

"Ha–ha." Jake fake-laughs. "Very funny. But I guess at least she didn't step on both my feet at the same time. Not like someone else I know…" He teases back with a knowing beam because really, that's all he can do – he can't possibly tell her he would have rather shared a slow dance with _her_ like he first imaged she was implying, can he?

They're _friends_. Friends don't share romantic moments.

(Friends don't gaze at each other the way they did during those full 3 minutes and 51 seconds of 'All Out of Love' playing in the background either.)

To be honest though, he would have shared a slow dance with _anyone_ rather than Great Aunt Susan. But, in this endless list of people he would have rather danced with, Amy would have come first.

Yeah, even before _Jenny Gildenhorn_. And by far.

Seems like _she_ is the one he's obsessed with and can't forget about, finally.

They keep going with their banter for a while and soon their shared moment is all but forgotten. They join the rest of their squad for a group picture, have laughs and drinks and friendly conversations, never staying apart for too long for the rest of the night. The thought of Jenny and her new 'boyfriend' doesn't reach Jake's mind once during the party – he's too busy having fun with his friends.

(Too busy having fun with _Amy_.)

That is, until the end of the night draws nearer, with part of the guests already gone, and the DJ seems to decide it's time to put back some CDs of soft music he already played earlier in the evening.

And of course, among them has to be _the_ song.

"Are they kidding me?!" Jake pauses still in the middle of the dancefloor (Amy dragged him and their other colleagues there the minute the effects of the third glass of champagne she downed kicked in her system) as he immediately recognizes the melody filling the air.

 _I'm lying alone with my head on the phone…_

Hearing the song again hurts but now it's not because of Jenny and stupid Eddie Fung and ruined bar-mitzvahs. Now it rather sounds like missed opportunities and pining for the woman across his desk at work – for the woman who's currently standing next to him and lets out a snort when she recognizes the music too.

"This is not funny." Jake pouts but it only makes her laugh more.

"I think it is." She offers him a bright, playful smile and he swears his heart might be melting in his chest.

There's a short pause after that, during which Amy seems to consider something before she eventually breaks the silence again.

"Wanna dance?"

At first, Jake thinks he might be hallucinating. He's had a few drinks and is feeling a little tipsy, after all. Hearing voices seems more likely that Amy asking him to dance together.

"With you?" he asks, seeking confirmation. He doesn't want to get his hopes up over nothing. Not again.

"Yeah, me with." Amy chuckles. It's probably the most beautiful music Jake's ever listened to in his whole life – even better than Taylor Swift's best tune.

( _So. Screwed._ )

"As you said, I owe you. Plus 3-Drink Amy is still kicking _strong_." Her smile is soft now and as he gazes into her eyes for a second, and sees the same glint in there as the one she looked at him with earlier while dancing with Great Aunt Susan, he understands that he is _not_ hallucinating. She wants to dance with him – _for realz_ this time.

 _Cool cool cool cool cool._

His heart is pounding, his mind is racing, filled with questions and _what does this mean, does she still like me too or is this just Amy Dance Pants talking like she said it is_ but somehow, his voice is calm and sure when he answers her.

"Okay." He's pretty certain the smile he gives her back is the biggest grin he's ever shot anyone with.

The way they move around with the other couples slowly swaying on the dancefloor is shy at first. They don't get too close – Amy's palm is barely pressed on his side while Jake's hand brushes over her right shoulder, only touching her with the tip of his fingers. Their other hands are locked together as they take a few synched steps together.

Jake can't help but fear his hands will start to get sweaty with the nervousness he's currently experiencing and Amy will be able to tell, not wanting to show how much he's enjoying the moment too much.

They're just friends, nothing more.

But then he fixes his gaze onto Amy's, onto the bright smile and tender look she's shooting at him and his whole body relaxes in a second. Unconsciously, his grip on her body becomes firmer and she follows – he can feel her knuckles curling around his waist more as she grabs his suit and takes a step closer in his direction, invading his personal space a little more.

Jake lets out a small gasp. His heart is beating so fast and his whole body is burning so strong, he thinks he's most likely going to burst at some point.

 _He's got Amy Santiago in his arms and they're sharing a slow dance._

This definitely feels like a dream he's having – yet it's very real.

As seconds pass and the song progresses, they both become more and more comfortable around each other, getting lost in the moment, to the point that Amy seems to eventually stop fighting the intimacy and just closes her eyes and rests her head against his. They instinctively switch positions so that they're somehow wrapped into a close embrace and Jake hears her release a satisfied sigh.

At this point, he who used to _hate_ this dumb song finds himself wishing the DJ would let it play on repeat forever, so that he never has to let go of her.

Because nothing ever felt as good and _right_ as having Amy inside his arms.

(Even if she still smells a little like garbage from their previous adventures of the day despite her change of clothes and use of perfume to hide it – it truly doesn't bother him. If anything, it only reminds him of another great memory they shared together, going after a criminal all _James Bond_ -stylez.)

They move around in soothing silence, never breaking apart and leaning onto the other. Lost in his thoughts, Jake lets his gaze wander around at the other people surrounding them and catches sight of Charles. His best friend shoots him a huge grin and two thumbs up, making Jake shake his head in return and roll his eyes.

This is not what he imagines. This is just a dance between two friends. Because that's what Amy and he are.

 _Friends._

He tightens his grip around her body and lets his own head lean against hers with a contented sigh too.

Eventually – _unfortunately_ – the song comes to an end. They stop when the music does, but don't draw apart too quickly. His arms are still around her body when Amy looks up and stares into his eyes with a look in there that makes Jake swoon. (He's pretty sure his own reflect the same awestruck emotion – or at least that's what he thinks he's reading in hers; what _he_ feels about her.)

They don't say a single word, simply keep their eyes fixed onto the other for a beat. He catches how for a split second Amy looks down at his lips and damn, if he was trying not to think about it too much before, it's all it takes for his mind to take him there now: he wants to kiss her so much.

And he easily could, really. Her face is only inches away from his – all he has to do is lean in and he could press his mouth against hers in a tender kiss.

And he almost does, really. Because it seems like she's thinking about the same thing with her staring eyes and slightly parted, lipstick-colored lips.

But then a new, more upbeat song rises into the air before he finds the guts to make a move and the moment is lost. Amy turns her head, seemingly a little surprised as they're brought back to the reality of where they are and suddenly they both become very aware of all the people surrounding them and how they're the only ones still wrapped in an intimate embrace.

She jerks away. Jake immediately misses the warmth of her body pressed against his.

They find themselves stuck in awkward silence for a few seconds after that – they can't seem to dare meeting each other's gaze anymore when only a moment ago they were drowning into the other's eyes. Jake clears his throat as he wants to talk – wants to ease the tension between them.

(Wants to tell her how dancing with her made him feel. Tell her he still likes her, and probably never stopped.

Build up some courage and actually ask her out.)

(Because what they shared… they were having a moment, right? He didn't dream all of this. He didn't dream all the smiles and looks and how perfectly her body fit against his. It _had_ to be a moment. It couldn't be the way she dances with everyone – he danced with her in the past, and though it was really pleasurable, it never felt as romantic as it did here.

What differs is that they were on duty, though. So maybe it _is_ how she dances with everyone – when she's not undercover on a mission.

Nah, that's crazy. It _can't_ be. They _definitely_ were having a moment… didn't they?

But if they did, what does it mean, then? Does she like him too?! That's a pretty crazy thing to think about as well, to be honest.)

He knows the only way to find out is by directly asking her. But Amy beats him at it, her voice taking him out of his spiralling thoughts.

"I, uh–… I need to go to the bathroom." She points towards somewhere opposite them, still barely looking at him. "Sorry." She doesn't wait for an answer to leave.

He doesn't stop her. Simply watches her go, with his courage fading more and more with each new step she takes further away from him and his heart tightening in his chest.

( _So, so screwed._ )

"So, you and Amy, uh? Is it finally happening? We saw you guys on the dancefloor. You seemed pretty close." Charles and Terry appear out of nowhere by his side and take Jake out of his contemplation, wiggling their eyebrows at him suggestively and it makes him sigh. This is definitely not what he needs right now.

"Calm down. It was just a dance," he quickly dismisses them.

"Just a dance?!" They unfortunately insist. They share a knowing look and laugh. "You guys were literally devouring each other with your eyes."

"We could feel the tension from the other side of the room," Charles backs Terry up.

"Psht. I don't see what you're talking about," he still denies, although he can feel his cheek start to burn in a blush at his friends' words.

He so wishes they're right.

He so wishes she _does_ still like him too, and he'll finally find the guts to ask her out – before he does the same mistake of speaking up too late.

(He doesn't do it that night, as Amy is soon to leave the party after she comes back from the bathroom, pretending she's tired. On the next Monday when they meet again at work, he doesn't do it either as they avoid any talk about the wedding altogether and he feels like the time isn't _right_.

In fact, it still takes a few weeks to admit his feelings – in his defense, she _does_ tell him about her rule of not dating cops when he finally builds up the courage to do it, which stops him right in his tracks – but in the end, it doesn't really matter how long it takes for him to do so. Because from the moment he eventually does, the moment he doesn't hesitate and kisses her, it signs the start of something good. The start of a lifetime together, making up for bad timing and missed opportunities.)


	119. I'll Be the Heart of Your Story

"Hi, babe. Are you coming to bed soon?"

Jake's voice is soft as he enters Amy's little book haven and a smile spreads across his face at the sight she offers. She's comfortably sitting on a chair with one volume of her favorite book series in her hands and a small blanket draped over her lap to keep her warm. She's already in her pajamas, wearing an old NYPD T-shirt and her gigantic glasses – she removed her contacts a while ago already.

It's a beautiful scene, the domesticity of which makes his heart flutter; it reminds him of __home__ and this thrilling promise of __moving in together__ still hanging in the air between them.

Even though truth to be told, it already feels like they're living together and have been for a while. Whether they've been staying at her place or his, very few have been the nights they spent apart ever since he and Holt came back from Florida. It's only a matter of time now before they make it official – if only one of them would agree of letting go of their apartment.

Deep down, Jake knows it'd be a lot easier if __he__ were to move into Amy's. Only by looking at all the books gathered in this __one__ small room, he's not so sure they'd manage to find a place where to put them in his little studio.

Still, he'd love for her to come live with him just as much as she'd love for him to do the same and they haven't found a solution yet.

"I'm coming. Just one more chapter and I'm here, promise." Amy's voice takes him out of his reverie as she answers him.

She draws her attention away from her book for a second and shoots him a smile that soon reciprocates on his own features. She quickly goes back to her reading though, and Jake lets out a small chuckle with a shake of his head. What can he say? His girl loves books and he loves that about her, even though he surely doesn't share this interest for them.

He could go back to bed and wait for her there while playing on his phone, but he doesn't. Instead he leans against the door frame and watches her, watches how focused and invested in the story she is as she turns another page of a book she must know by heart by now; she probably read it more times than the number of books he himself read throughout his entire life.

 _ _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban__ , is written on the cover – the third of a series of seven volumes Jake barely knows anything about apart from the fact that his girlfriend loves them and __why__.

He asked her, the night of their six-month anniversary, when he took her out for a night at the New York Public Library.

She was rambling about them and other of her favorite stories with such passion shining in her eyes and he listened carefully to her every word, falling a little more in love with her in the process – even though he hadn't told her yet, he still felt it running stronger each day in his veins and filling his heart with this new blissful emotion no one ever made him feel before.

"What's so great about this story of a wizard?!" He genuinely wanted to know.

"It's an amazing story – you'd know if you'd actually read them," she teased with a knowing look as she tried (and failed) to convert him for the umpteenth time. Soon though, her face softened and she shared her own tale. "But it's also because I have great memories attached to these books. Everyone in my family read and loved them, from the very first one. We would buy a new volume on the day of its release and fight over who would get to read it first. Because then we'd have power over the whole house. The power of spoiling the others about what happens."

Her mouth quirked up in a fond smile at the memory of it. Jake snorted amusedly, his mind blessing him with images of a young Amy and the rest of the Santiagos geeking over this Harry Potter guy.

 _ _Adorable.__

Though he wasn't ready to read them, he of course offered to _watch_ the movies together instead so that he could understand her love better – did so even before they started dating, actually.

But she surprisingly declined and even more shockingly confessed she'd never watched any of them herself and wouldn't before a while.

"I–… I want to wait until I have children." He recalls how the tip of her ears slowly turned red in a blush. "I want us all to discover the movies for the first time together."

And if at the time he found it a little crazy and didn't quite get it, now that they're in a relationship – a relationship that's getting more serious with each new day passing by –, Jake somehow understands the feeling now. If he's being honest with himself, he even likes the idea a lot and could actually picture themselves and their future kids all curled up on the couch with blankets and snacks, ready for a family movie night of watching Harry Potter for the first time.

Only a few meters away, Amy lets out a small laugh, her full attention still focused on this book she loves so much, and as he stares at her with the most tender smiles, Jake thinks he loves __her__ so much, he should actually finally give them a try.

For her, and the future children he's starting to hope they'll have together maybe someday (he surely doesn't want __their__ story to end – he's seen what it's like, a life without Amy in it during these six months spent apart and he knows it's something he wishes he'll never have to go through ever again), and this blissful night awaiting them.

Also because he knows for a fact it'd make her happy if he'd get into one of her big interests, and he'd really do anything to make her happy.

"Okay, I'm ready." The sudden sound of the book closing startles Jake out of his thoughts. Before he knows it, Amy is out of her chair and standing by his side with a loving beam on her face. "Let's get to bed?" She offers her hand and he only pauses for a second before intertwining their fingers together, letting her guide him towards the bedroom.

He takes a quick look back as they go, at this little room he's never really cared for before but where he's probably gonna spend a lot of his free time in the next few weeks.

He's got seven _long_ books to catch up on, after all.


	120. Whatever's Meant to Be Will Work Out

**All credits for the plot of the story go to startofamoment on Tumblr and her amazing headcanons.**

* * *

 **Whatever's Meant to Be Will Work Out Perfectly**

He's just paid for a full bag of snacks to eat while waiting for his flight when Jake hears someone call him from behind his back.

"Jake?!" He hasn't heard this voice in a (too) long time but still recognizes it right away. The tone is a little hesitant and tinted with surprise but when he turns around and their eyes meet, he can see Amy's instantly light up. A bright smile forms on his face as well at the sight of his ex-partner and more importantly friend in front of him.

"Oh wow, Ames! What are you doing here?"

To say he's startled too would be an understatement; it's been so long since he last saw her.

She takes a few steps forward, pulling him into a friendly hug before answering. Jake's heart warms up at the feeling of her arms wrapping around his body while his own instinctively fall on her back, tightening the embrace.

Damn, he missed her. More than he thought he did.

(And, to be honest, he'd thought about it a lot. Even after all these years, he still gets nostalgic over their time as partners sometimes, when he looks at the desk opposite his but doesn't see her there. His 'new' partner is fine – really, he doesn't have much to complain about her; they've quickly gotten along and she's fun and very good at her job but there's still something missing.

She's simply not Amy, as Amy is irreplaceable to the Nine-Nine. To him.)

"I was away for the weekend on a police conference. You?"

Her answer makes Jake smile playfully. Of course that's what she was doing here. She definitely hasn't changed a bit – or at least not much. He takes a moment to look at her and study her. Her face is soft as she's smiling at him, eyes still shining with the apparent joy of having bumped into him. She's wearing simple jeans and a flowery blouse instead of her signature pantsuits and her hair looks shorter than he recalls it did but all in all, she still looks much the same.

Still absolutely stunning.

"Went to see my sister for a bit."

At that, Amy's expression changes and her brows furrowed in question.

"Your sister?!" She seems stunned – and rightly so.

Even though they tried as hard as they could to keep in touch after Amy got promoted at her new job and left the city, it's been years now and their conversations have slowly (and very sadly) turned into a few texts here and there, mostly birthday wishes or happy new year messages that quickly die down after a few exchanges of "how you doing?"

So of course Jake didn't think about telling her about the shocking news his father shared the previous year at a Thanksgiving dinner: he's not the single child he always thought he was.

Far from it.

"Hm, it's a long story." He brings his hand to his neck, scratching nervously. "Do you… is your flight leaving soon? I suppose you came here far too early, Santiago-stylez? So if you have time, maybe we could catch up and I'd tell you everything about her… and the others?"

Amy laughs, the sound of which sends shivers running down his spine. Another thing he missed: her laugh. More importantly, he missed being the one to make her laugh.

(He was pretty good at it, he has to say. It's nice to see some thing never change, no matter how long as passed, and he still is.)

"Actually, yes. I do have a lot of time ahead and I'd love to catch up." She offers him a sincere smile before she goes on, amusement back on her face. "Do _you_ have time, though? From what I recall, back in the day you weren't the type of guy who arrives early for anything."

"Oh yeah, no, still that guy. I would have definitely been late if it weren't for my flight being delayed. So now I'm actually very early."

"Great. Just give me a minute then, I need to tell my partner not to wait for me."

For some reason, Jake's heart tightens a little in his chest at the mention of another partner – which is stupid, really. It's completely normal she made new friends and colleagues along the years, people he doesn't know and most likely will never meet. She probably even met someone – as in, romantic-stylez.

A new wave of pain hits harder in his chest at the thought.

 _Was she wearing a wedding ring?!_ The idea occurs to him all of a sudden. He doesn't think he saw one. But he didn't really pay attention to that.

Anyway, it shouldn't matter.

Yes, there actually was a time he thought maybe something could happen between the two of them. But it was so long ago now. She was still living in New York City, and they were still seeing each other pretty regularly. Charles was right. He did like her. Realized it the hard way, coming from the ache he felt after she left the Nine-Nine for Major Crimes despite his desperate attempts at making her stay.

And yes, there were some times, like when they met at the Boyle-Linetti wedding and shared a weird romantic moment there, he thought the feeling might be mutual and he almost asked her out.

But then she told him about her promotion, about the new city she was going to live in, so far away from home – so far away from _him_ – and suddenly the possibility of a 'Jake and Amy' became vain.

He wasn't good at doing long-distance relationships.

(Still isn't.)

He can't help himself though, and discreetly take a look at her left finger when she comes back, smiling at him and offering to go sit somewhere so they can talk.

 _No ring._

He releases a sigh of relief.

"So, how's everyone at the Nine-Nine?!" Amy barely waits for them to settle down to ask about their common friends and colleagues.

"Good. Everyone's still here and everyone's fine. We miss you, though. When are you coming back to see us?"

Amy blushes – he can see it start from the tip of her ears.

"I'm so sorry. It's been such a crazy year. I passed the Sergeant's exam and then I just… focused on my new job a lot. But I'll come back to New York soon, promise. I miss you too. All of you. A lot. And I'm so happy I ran into you today."

Her features soften as she brings her hand to his and squeezes lightly – she really seems to feel bad and sad for losing touch.

(Not that it's entirely her fault. Jake didn't do better at it. He's not good at keeping up with people he doesn't see on a regular basis, unfortunately. His goldfish memory that makes him forget about them be damned.)

(Not that he could truly ever forget about Amy. She's been there, hidden somewhere at the back of his mind, every day since she left the city.)

(Since she left the precinct.)

But instead of wallowing, he decides to focus on the good news.

"You're a sergeant now?! That's awesome, congrats!" He grins, truly happy for her – he knows how important her job is, and how she dreams about making captain someday.

(Being the youngest captain of the NYPD used to be _it_ for her, even, she confessed on a stakeout when they were still working together.)

(Maybe it still is, and maybe that's what'll make her come back home at some point in her career.)

In the meantime, he's just glad she took a new step towards her goals. Even though it's not at the Nine-Nine, and he feels a little sad he didn't get to witness it.

Be there to celebrate with her.

He hates how they've drifted apart so much through the years…

"Thanks." She blushes a little harder, averting her gaze for a second before putting it back on him and god, she's adorable.

He missed her _so much_.

One question quickly leads to another, turning into a lively conversation with the both of them updating each other on their lives, joking and teasing each other. Really, it only takes them a few minutes of getting acquainted with each other again before everything feels like years didn't pass and they never parted ways.

It's like they're back at the Charles' and Gina's parents' wedding, drowning into each other's eyes after Amy pranked Jake into dancing with Gina's great aunt.

(Not that it was the last time they saw each other. They both went to their ex-captain's funerals about a year and a half back, but it wasn't really a place for laughter and friendly conversations – a place where they could simply enjoy each other's company.)

"They had a divorce, actually," Jake informs Amy when she asks about them – apparently, he's not the only one having throwbacks to this night.

"Oh no. It's so sad. Their wedding was so beautiful! I had so much fun that night."

"Me too. Especially during that slow dance with Aunt Susan," Jake jokes, making Amy laugh.

"Oh yeah, I remember that. You two had great chemistry."

She shoots him a knowing look and grin that makes him snort.

There's a pause after that, during which none of them talks, staring at the other straight into the eyes. Amy is the first to avert her gaze.

"So, uh–…" She clears her throat. "Speaking of chemistry and weddings, tell me about you! Are you seeing someone?"

"Nope. As single as ever." He hesitates for a second before asking as well. "You? Any Mister Santiago waiting for you at home?"

"No. It's just me too. I didn't feel like dating for a while – too focused on my job."

"Cool. Cool cool cool."

He can't help but feel relieved – a little happy, even, if he had to admit.

Jake can feel something switch in the atmosphere between them after that, and not only from his side. It's like this confession about none of them seeing anyone broke the last wall remaining between them and gave them permission not to restrain themselves anymore.

It starts with small details barely visible to the few people around – more tender smiles, leaning further into each other's space, bolder flirty banter.

But then Amy laughs – truly lets out a loud, hearted sound at one of his stupid jokes and Jake finds himself gazing at her in pure awe, completely starstruck.

"God, I missed you so much," he lets the words out loud.

He never wants this moment to end – never wants to have to say goodbye.

Amy's laughter dies down after that, looking at him with a serious glint inside her eyes mingling with an oh so tender expression.

"Me too." She takes his hand in hers. "To be honest, I–… I often think about what it would be like, if I'd never left." Jake looks down at their laced fingers.

"Me too."

In his fantasies, if she'd stayed after the wedding, he would have asked her out at some point, and they'd be together since. Would have been for a while.

Maybe they would even be married by know?!

Who knows. These are just fantasies. Maybe they would have never gotten together even if she'd stayed.

And anyways, she did leave and the sad reality that followed is they lost touch – only to bump into each other years later at a random airport far away from home.

From _each of their own, separate homes_.

He knows it's stupid to have any faith whatsoever, then. And he knows he should restrain himself from leaning towards her as she does the same after silently staring at each other for a full second, his eyes switching between hers and her lips as they get closer. He knows it's only gonna make things more complicated and hurt harder when they have to part.

Still, it's like his body is moving on its own. He can't keep his thoughts straight. Maybe they could somehow make it work? Build a relationship while only seeing each other once in a while? Some people manage that.

So why not them? He could be willing to try that.

For Amy.

Jake keeps leaning closer and she doesn't seem to stop either.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boarding for flight 969 to New York City with Air USA will start shortly."

"Dammit! It's my flight."

Jake suddenly draws away, before their lips can even brush, and the moment is immediately lost. He's able to think rationally again and see how bad an idea this would have been if they'd gone through with it and kissed.

No matter how much he wishes he would be right now, he's not a man for long-distance relationships.

"You should… you should go, then. You don't want to miss it." Amy settles back in her chair, keeping her distance with him. She looks a little disappointed in the turn the events took – and, really, he is too – but Jake tries to persuade himself it's all for the better. She's barely meeting his eyes as he watches her, hesitant.

He doesn't want to leave.

Maybe they could build a new life here, in Dallas? He almost offers. But he doesn't. He takes his bag and starts to walk away.

"It was really nice to see you again." He stops and turns after only a few steps. "Hopefully we won't wait to run into each other next time."

Amy finally looks up, shooting him a shy smile.

"I'll try to fly to New York soon. I promise."

He has to fight hard not to just go to her and kiss her goodbye.

Jake dutifully joins his gate, lost in his thoughts and his heart aching the same way it did the first time he went to work and she wasn't there. The same way it did when she announced she was leaving the city.

It doesn't get easier with time, apparently. Quite the opposite.

"Sir, can I get your boarding pass, please?"

The stewardess' voice is what eventually brings him out of his dark thoughts. He watches her, a little astonished for a full second before his eyes land on the paper inside his hand, with the name of the city he's supposed to be going back to written on it.

He can't do it.

"I'm sorry, I–… I need to go. Don't wait for me to leave. Or maybe do. I really don't know if what I'm about to do is the most romantic gesture or a stupid idea that'll blow up in my face spectacularly. In this case, I'll still need the flight."

He doesn't wait for the woman to say anything and turns around, going back where he was mere minutes ago, but Amy isn't there anymore. She probably went back to the colleague she mentioned, he thinks.

It doesn't stop him. He runs around the airport for a while, looking for her among the crowd of people sitting in the different areas, until he eventually finds her.

"Finally, you're here."

"Jake?! Aren't you supposed to be boarding right now?"

"I couldn't go." He wants to say more; he prepared a whole speech in his head during his run but he's panting right now and has to stop to catch his breath.

So much for a 'big romantic gesture.'

"I don't understand. Is there a problem? Did you forget something?" Amy frowns.

"I just… I can't let you go again," Jake confesses when he's finally breathing normally again. "I did it once and I've been regretting it ever since. I really like you, Ames, and I really wish we could find a way to make things work between us somehow. Because my life's never been better than when you were in it."

"Jake–…"

"I know it's crazy. But we're crazy people, right? We see crazy things every day."

He stops, staring at her with hope in his eyes while trying to read into hers.

The more she keeps silent though, the more the hope disappears and he feels like it was, indeed, the worst idea he's ever had in his life.

(And he's had his load of bad ones.)

"So this is why you worked your ass off to get that promotion to New York, uh?!" A man Jake didn't see before suddenly talks as he looks at the both of them with an amused smile.

"What?!" He shoots him a confused glance before bringing his gaze back on Amy. She offers him a shy smile.

"Jake, this is my partner, Matthew Glenn. Matthew, this is Jake, my ex-colleague from when I was working at the Nine-Nine."

"Nice to me you, man. I've heard a lot about the guy whose shoes I could never fill. Though now I understand why." He laughs and Jake finds himself even more confused.

"What?!" he repeats, too stunned to form another word. "What does he mean, a promotion for New York?"

"It's really not official yet, that's why I didn't want to tell you anything. But yeah, part of the reason I worked so hard during the past year is so that I could come back home."

"Really?!" Jake's eyes instantly light up at the news. Amy's smile broadens.

"Really. I couldn't bear being apart anymore either."

It's all it takes for Jake to break the remaining distance between them and do what they've been interrupted before: he kisses Amy, with a passion equal to the addition of all the years of building up to this moment. They don't draw away too quickly when their lips eventually part, smiling with their foreheads resting onto each other's.

"I really liked your speech, by the way. Very cheesy," she teases him.

Jake laughs.

"What can I say? I'm a true romantic."

He sees as Amy rolls her eyes and can feel her shake her head.

"Aren't you going to miss your flight, though?"

"Last call for flight 969 to New York City. Everyone should be on board by now," a voice announces through the speakers, as if on cue.

It makes them both chuckle lightly. But still Jake doesn't move.

"Nah, I can take the next one."

He pulls Amy into another kiss. Now that he found her again, he doesn't want to ever let go – and the good thing is, he apparently won't have to.


	121. Hugging When One Sitting on Other's Lap

**Hugging When One Is Sitting on the Other's Lap**

Usually, in their relationship, Jake is the one who makes the big heartfelt speeches.

Sometimes though, Amy will surprise him by voicing out loud how she feels, melting his heart with the unexpected words of love.

It's their last night in Mexico and rather than going back to their room after sharing a nice romantic dinner at one of the resort's restaurants, Jake and Amy chose to make the most of the little time they have left to go to the beach. They're not ready to leave and fly to New York City in the morning – this place is a true paradise on Earth.

They're so glad they were able to trade a few days in the Berkshires for this as their honeymoon, and even happier Holt offered to pay for one more week of their vacation after ruining the first. They truly enjoyed their extra stay, between couples activities only the two of them this time, uninterrupted sexy timez (with and without roleplay), quiet moments at the beach or the pool and, just like tonight, romantic dinners followed with walks under the stars.

The beach is much calmer now than it is during the day as they are the only two vacationers there. They have all the chaises for themselves but still, Amy is sitting on Jake's lap with her arms wrapped around his neck. His are resting on her lower back, keeping her close in a loving embrace while drawing circles on her skin over her fine flowery dress with his thumbs.

They're silent at first, sinking into the moment and listening to the sound of the wind and the waves crashing against the shore. It's very soothing.

But then Amy takes something out of her small purse, moving as little as she can so that she doesn't break the hug and Jake frowns. "What's that?"

"My wedding vows." She carefully flattens what seems like several pieces of paper all covered in dark ink in her hands. "Or at least the ones I had prepared for the ceremony we were supposed to have."

Jake looks at them and his heart instantly warms up.

"How long is that?!" he asks, curious.

It seems like a lot of words written down in her favorite font – a lot of words written down about _him_ and their love story. He's impressed but he should have seen it coming. Knowing her, just like the rest of their wedding preparations, she probably spent weeks working on the perfect vows. She most likely treated the task like an essay for university – starting with a simple outline, several drafts, and then this last version she didn't even get the chance to share with him.

 _If you told me yesterday everything that was gonna go wrong, I would have had a panic attack that sent me into the ER._

Their wedding was truly beautiful in the end, and he meant it when he said he would marry her any time, any place, but still Jake can't help but feel a little bad all of their efforts were in vain, especially now that Amy is showing him her real wedding vows.

(He absolutely adored what she came up with on the spot, though – especially the butt joke she shamelessly stole from him after preventing him from saying it.)

"10 pages…" His wife's words bring him back to the reality of the moment.

She's blushing, he can see it even in the dark of the night, and her eyes are shining as she's staring intently at him.

He chuckles amusedly though inside he's melting. _10 pages just for him._

"Santiago-stylez?"

"Of course." She shoots him a knowing smile. "I was gonna read them to you on our first night here but then we got stuck with Holt and… you wanna hear them now?"

"Absolutely." Jake grins as he nods excitedly – he's really curious to know what she has to tell him. What she first intended to tell him on their wedding day.

"Okay." Amy takes a deep breath. She draws a little away from him to better look him in the eye. She pauses for a second, staring at him with so much love his heart is already pounding in his chest before she even says a word, then starts. "I was 10 when I put together my first life calendar and wrote down the word 'wedding' on it for the first time…"

Usually, in their relationship, Jake is the one who makes the big heartfelt speeches.

Sometimes though, Amy will surprise him by voicing out loud how she feels, melting his heart with the unexpected words of love – like she decided to do tonight.

For several minutes, she talks and Jake listens in religious silence. She talks about what she expected her wedding to be when she was young, how she felt about him when they met, her rule of not dating cops, the things they had to go through to come to the day they would finally say 'I do.' It's beautiful but it's also funny, full of private jokes and compelling anecdotes and is so _them_ – her words sound like poetry to Jake's ears, better than any of his favorite Taylor Swift's songs or Die Hard most iconic lines.

In the end, he's almost glad she didn't get the chance to recite these vows in front of everyone because tears are literally flowing down his cheeks and he couldn't stop them if he wanted to. For sure he would have been a mess back then.

Plus there's something really intimate about hearing them now, as they're all alone and curled up on a chaise in the middle of a warm night, miles away from home on the beach of this gorgeous hotel where they've been celebrating the beginning of their married life for the past two weeks.

It's simply magical.

"As long as you're with the right people, you can handle anything. And you, Jake Peralta, are the right person for me," she eventually finishes her monologue with the same words she already told him during the ceremony, which were very fitting at the time.

(Which are, in fact, very fitting with their story as a whole.)

Amy's not looking at her notes anymore as she says these last words. She's staring deep at him with a loving smile on her face and tears prickling inside her eyes too. Jake is speechless for a few seconds after she stops talking. He needs some time to let everything sink in and for his heart to calm its wild beating a little.

Because if usually, in their relationship, he is the one who makes the big heartfelt speeches, Amy damn well knows how to express herself as well when it's her turn to make one.

His own _Addams Family_ -themed rap, despite some _great_ lines he found and all the time and efforts he put into it, would have paled in comparison to this.

"This was… so beautiful," he eventually manages to whisper after a while. "And it must have taken you so long to write down. I'm sorry you didn't get the chance to recite them during the ceremony. I'm sorry we didn't get the wedding we spent so much time planning."

"It's okay." Amy smiles at him, something bright and reassuring. She brings a hand to his shoulder and squeezes gently. "We still got married, and that's all that matters. Plus Charles really did a great job to make it look beautiful still. And we would have never had such an amazing honeymoon if we have had the ceremony we wanted."

She looks around to emphasize her words and Jake follows her gaze.

"You're right. I never want to leave here."

"Me neither," Amy agrees as she settles back in his arms. She lets out a satisfied sigh when she rests her head on his chest and he holds her close, watching the horizon in a recovered soothing silence. They enjoy the quietness of the moment for a while, until Jake breaks it.

"Hey, you want to hear the rap I had prepared for you too? I still don't have a beat-boxer though so it won't be as good."

He feels her laugh at his words before she straightens up to face him again. "I'm sure it's gonna be great."

She offers him an inviting smile and he grins at her.

"Okay, then." Jake focuses on her, then begins his own little song. "I'm Gomez, you're Morticia, I feel so happy when I'm witcha…"


	122. Cause We Know We'll Make it Through

"Happy anniversary, babe."

"Happy anniversary."

With a smile, Amy brings her glass of champagne to her lips and takes a sip after clinking it with Jake's. She takes this moment of drinking in silence to look around them. She has to admit, if it weren't for the perp currently lying unconscious on the tiny bed in front of her, the place would actually look very romantic – despite being a _hospital room_.

Jake truly set it up nicely, with fairy lights framing the door and Paris decor behind them as well as red roses he bought for her. There's also French cheese and baguettes on the table she can't wait to try. It's not a real trip to the City of Love nor the dreamy night they had in mind to celebrate one year of married life but it's still better than nothing and another surprise Jake pulled out for her.

At least they've not been sent in two different neighborhoods to work on their own cases. They're together and truly, it's all that matters.

 _As long as we're with the right people, we can handle anything_ – she made these vows exactly 365 days ago and still stands by them.

"I can't believe it's already been a year Holt married us in front of the precinct." Jake's sigh takes Amy out of her reverie and she brings her gaze back on him, chuckling lightly.

"Me neither," she agrees, a fond smile spreading on her face as memories of the day come back to her. It soon turns into a true grin. "You know what this means, though…" she trails off knowingly but Jake doesn't seem to take the hint. He simply frowns in return, seeming clueless. "It's been a year. We said we'd start trying for a baby after a year…"

Amy can barely contain her excitement any longer. She can't wait for this new crazy adventure with her husband to finally begin – she can't wait for the planning and binders she'll have to make and books she'll have to read and obviously all the sex they're gonna have to try and get pregnant.

(Not that they need an excuse for that last part.)

* * *

Her grin quickly falters though when she looks at her husband and he doesn't seem as thrilled as she is – as thrilled as he should be. It's quite the opposite, even. He's averting his gaze, one of his hands coming to scratch the back of his neck in what she's come to learn with time is a nervous tic. He clears his throat then lets the words out.

"I know we said that but… D'you think it's really a good idea?"

This time, Amy's the one who frowns.

"What?!" She's confused. This is definitely not the turn she imagined the conversation would take when she brought up the (supposedly happy) topic of their near future and growing family. "But I thought you couldn't wait for us to have kids? You kept talking about having a mini-me and you running around the house and how cute that would be."

She clearly (and very fondly) remembers his huge goofy beam every time they would bring up the topic of having children together several times in the past. It doesn't help her understand his sudden change of heart.

"I know, and I still do want kids, but…" Jake takes a short pause. He leans over to take her hands in both of his, rubbing small circles with his thumbs on their back as he stares deep inside her eyes.

Amy senses she's not gonna like what he's gonna say next.

"Look at us. We were supposed to have a quiet night off celebrating our anniversary but here we are, cancelling our plans because we had a job to do. And it's not the first time this is happening. This is our life. We can be called on duty anytime – both of us. And what about our baby then – who's gonna look after it?"

"We still figured out something," Amy answers, a little defensive. She points to their surroundings, part of the surprise _he_ came up with for her, to prove her point. "We always do. I'm not saying it's gonna be easy and won't require a few adjustments, but we'll find a way to make it work."

Jake lets out a small sigh. He doesn't seem fully convinced.

"Okay, maybe we will. But it's not just that. Look at _him_." He points towards the still deeply asleep perp they're supposed to be guarding. "He's the one in a coma this time, but it could so easily be one of us in his place – or even _worse_. Being a cop is dangerous. We're risking our lives every day. What if one day only one of us gets to go home to our child?"

He squeezes her hand harder in his and she can see the sadness and defeat inside his dark eyes. She can see how much it costs him to say that – how this once selfish detective is now considering putting his own wants and needs behind for the sake of somebody else's. Somebody who's not even real yet and might never be, given the turn this conversation is taking.

Because Amy has to agree these are important points he's raising and things they need to take into account for sure. It's not something they've thought about discussing in their previous discussions about kids. Probably because the simple thought of losing Jake makes Amy want to throw up and she'd rather not let this image wander through her head if she can prevent it.

She already has enough examples of what a life without him would be like, and she knows it's not something she wants to experience ever again.

"Jake…"

"I know, I don't want to think about it either." It seems like he can read her mind. "But we have to. Because it could happen. And if we have a kid, we're not the only ones who will get affected. I know what it's like to grow up with a crappy parent who's never there, and it's not fun. I can't begin to imagine the pain of growing up with a parent who's not there because they got shot and died. At least I could always hope mine was gonna get better at being there for me."

Amy's heart clenches a little harder in her chest.

"So what are you saying? That you changed your mind and never want to have kids? Because this situation is not gonna change." She stares deep into his eyes, trying to see past through him as she dreadfully waits for an answer. She can't imagine a life without children – without _Jake and her_ children. And she truly believes they can find a way to make it work and raise a child in a safe and happy home if they gave themselves the means to.

Terry and Charles managed to do it after all, so why not them?

Sure, Terry's and Charles's wives aren't cops like both she and her husband are. But still. She knows several other couples of cops with a family of their own despite their risky jobs – and nothing bad ever happened to them. There's no reason then they couldn't do it as well.

"As I said, I do want them. More than anything else. I just don't know if we _should_ have them…"

Another pang of pain in her chest.

"Okay." Amy suddenly stands up with a sigh after a few seconds of thinking. A million thoughts are running through her mind at the second. She paces around the room before she stops still in front of Jake, who's watching her curiously. She has an idea in mind. "Should we have kids. That's the issue, right? Now let's debate. See the pros and cons and go from there." It's the only way she knows how to deal with this.

(It takes a bit of time, some reassuring testimonies from their two dad friends and a lot of long reflection about what would be best for a possible future child but in the end, they manage to come to an agreement: they are ready indeed and will overcome any possible obstacle life might throw at them in the future. Together. As a family. They _can_ – and _will_ – do it.)

(And, as part of the final celebration of their first anniversary, they start trying as soon as they reach their bed back home.)


	123. Today Our Story Starts Anew

With time, Amy has come to love Jake's surprises, especially as they started dating.

From terrible, they somehow turned into something beautiful and even magical sometimes – the biggest to date still being that one time, almost two years ago now, when he proposed to her on Halloween. She could have never predicted that. Even more recently, he managed to turn their almost ruined first anniversary into the best celebration she could have wished for on the following day to make up for spending the night in a hospital room with a comatose perp.

So really, under different circumstances, she would have _loved_ the surprise he pulled for her 36th birthday as well – aka., throwing a party with all of her friends and parts of her family she doesn't get to see as much as she'd like to.

But after such big unexpected news she learnt only a few hours ago, she truly would have rather spent the evening as they were supposed to. As in, a romantic dinner just the two of them.

This way, she could have easily shared her own surprise she spent the whole afternoon thinking about and planning (she was able to do that; the perks of always being one – or more like three – steps ahead on her paperwork and not having any important case to solve at the moment).

When she opens the door to their apartment though, she's not met with her husband waiting for her as she thought she would find him (as he told him he was only a few minutes ago when she sent a text letting him know she would be home soon). Instead, she steps into the dark before all the lights go on at once the second she enters the room and a horde of people greets her.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" they shout in one same loud voice.

At least, she doesn't have to fake her surprise. She is startled indeed. Just not in the thrilling way people would expect her to be.

"Oooooh… so many people…" she can't help but trail off as she scans the place and her eyes meet with so many other pair of eyes and glowing faces, all grinning at her.

She tries to smile back at them and look happily stunned when all she can think about is how this is the worst timing ever.

"Hi, honey!" Jake steps out of the crowd and approaches her. She hasn't made a move yet, stuck still on the doorway of their apartment and trying to process what's happening. As soon as his hand is on her arm and his lips are on hers though, welcoming her with a tender peck, she can feel her body relax and her features soften. That's the kind of power his simple presence has on her.

But then he hands her a glass of champagne and her smile vanishes. "Happy birthday, babe," he whispers to her ear. "I hope you like the surprise?"

"Mmhmm." She tries as hard as she can to sound convincing – the last thing Amy wants is to hurt Jake's feelings by showing no gratefulness for what he did for her.

Because she _does_ like the surprise. It's just not the right time for it. And she can't really blame him, because there's no way her husband could have possibly predicted anything else going on at the same time.

"I just need to get changed before joining you guys." She kisses his cheek, handing him the drink back before she goes and quickly greets everyone and thank them for being here. Then she excuses herself for a minute and disappears inside her room where she sits on her bed and finally lets out a sigh.

Tonight is going to be a long night, she thinks as she takes off her uniform's jacket. As she starts undressing to put on some more comfortable clothes, her eyes land on her purse and the small present wrapped inside, the gift she quickly bought on her way home. She had everything planned and perfectly knew what she was going to do: she was going to give it to Jake after he would offer her whatever he bought for her birthday.

"I also have something for you," she was going to tell him and watch with a grin as he would probably frown, unaware of what was going on.

Not knowing yet that their lives were about to completely change and that in a few months, it won't be just the two of them anymore.

Needless to say her plans are ruined now, with all of these people waiting for her on the other side of the room. There's no way she's telling him while they're surrounded with so many of their relatives. She loves them, and she can't wait to share the news with them as well in a few months, but for now this is a secret only Jake needs to know – something to share in the intimacy of a moment between the two of them.

Amy sighs again. She's waited the whole afternoon to tell him. She can wait a few more hours before dropping the beautifully life-changing bomb.

What she _can't_ do though, is drink any drop of alcohol tonight, or any other night in the next months – something that might be hard to avoid during a birthday party.

 _Her_ birthday party.

She might have found the perfect excuse to say no to this first glass of champagne Jake wanted her to have, but she has a feeling she won't get away with it as easily next time.

People will get suspicious for sure if she doesn't have at least one drink with them.

"Don't worry. We'll find a way," she finds herself looking down at her (still flat) belly and gently stroking it as she talks to the life she just learned a few hours ago was growing there. She's already feeling protective of it. A loving beam forms on her face and she can feel her eyes start to water again at the thought of a mini Jake and Amy inside of her.

She can't wait for him to know it too, so that they can share their tears of joy together.

"Hi, babe…" A knock on the door and her husband's head suddenly appearing in the doorframe take her out of her reverie and make her jerk her head up. He frowns but doesn't make any comment about her suspicious behavior – simply enters the room and come join her on the mattress. "You alright there?" His voice is soft and concerned and she smiles at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just getting changed like I said."

Jake studies her for a beat. She can feel his intense gaze scanning her, as if he knew she's hiding something.

"Okay, good. Because it didn't seem like you were truly happy when you saw everyone waiting for you in our apartment."

Of course he knows.

Amy's heart tightens in her chest. She feels bad for not being able to appreciate the effort he put into surprising her with such a party.

"I'm sorry, it's just–… I was taken off guard. This is very different from the calm romantic dinner we agreed on." She lets out a small chuckle to release some of the tension she's feeling. "And I was kind of looking forward to having you all for myself tonight. But I'm really happy to see everyone here. It's a really nice surprise. Thank you." She grabs his hand and squeezes, looking him straight in the eyes while he smiles back at her.

For a second, getting lost inside his loving gaze, Amy contemplates telling him right there and then before she restrains herself – this is not ideal. There are still people waiting for them outside of the room. They wouldn't have the time to let the news sink in and properly celebrate the fact that they're going to be parents.

This will have to wait until the end of the night, she decides.

"I'm ready, now. Let's go?" She stands up to emphasize her words and Jake quickly follows behind.

In the end, Amy does end up having a good time at her surprise birthday party. She gets to share joyful moments with people she holds dear to her heart and finally, avoiding drinking isn't as difficult as she first thought it would be – she quickly comes with a stratagem that allows her to pretend she's downing her glasses when in fact, all she does is filling Scully's without him ever noticing.

She even manages to trick Gina, Rosa and Kylie into doing birthday shots of tequila with them when really, all she's drinking is plain water.

The only thing is, there are so many people in there, it's hard to spend some quality time with her husband – aka., the one person she truly wants to be with during this night of celebrations.

Thankfully though, as time goes by and the night progresses, people start to leave and they eventually find themselves alone after saying goodbye to Charles and Genevieve, the last remaining guests. Amy lets herself fall onto the couch as she feels exhausted after all of this partying. The night isn't over though – and the simple thought of what's to come, what news she has to share is enough to give her some newfound energy.

But before she can say a word, Jake is standing in front of her with a goofy grin on his also tired features and a hand extended in her way.

Music is still playing in the background, some slow tune put at low volume.

"I didn't get the chance to dance with my wife tonight. On her birthday. We need to fix that now," he explains and Amy laughs as she shakes her head but still takes his hand. He leads her in the middle of their apartment. They quickly fall into a slow pace of swaying around the room in comforting silence, Jake's arms secured around her waist while hers are wrapped around his neck.

It's a very soothing moment, and Amy closes her eyes as she lets her head rest against her husband's to better appreciate the moment.

"I know you already told me you did, but you sure you liked the party tonight?" Jake's worried tone is what makes her finally open her eyes again and look at him.

She stops in her movements but doesn't draw away – simply brings a hand to his face and softly strokes his cheek.

Now's the perfect time. She doesn't have her little gift with her but she can do without. The setting is romantic enough for her to share the news.

And, most importantly, they're finally alone.

"I did, I promise." She offers him a reassuring smile. The words are enough to make him relax, she notices. "It was just very bad timing, as there's something I wanted to tell you. Only you."

Her smile grows bigger. She can feel her heart starting to pound in her chest with anticipation. Jake, on the other hand, is watching her with a curious frown.

"What is it?"

Amy pauses just for a second – she's waited long enough already – before spilling the truth, tears already pricking in her eyes before she can even muster the words.

"I'm pregnant," she says and her husband's reaction to the news is soon to come.

It takes only a beat for the fact to sink in. She can tell the exact moment it does; a new glint appears in his irises as he lets his gaze fall onto her stomach.

"You're… pregnant?" He looks back up at her with pure awe shining in his eyes. She nods in return, the happy sobs now falling down her cheeks and blurring her vision. "We're having a baby," Jake lets out in a whisper, still a little in disbelief, before he brings her into a hug and kisses the top of her head.

He suddenly draws away after a while though. He watches her as if a thought just occurred to him.

"Wait. It's your birthday and you're the one pulling out the best surprise for me? It's not how it's supposed to work, Santiago!"

It makes Amy laugh.

"Well, technically it takes two to make a baby. So I guess this is partly your surprise as well." She grins and for only answer he brings her back to him, kissing her passionately.

"Happy birthday, babe," he eventually whispers when they part, his head still resting against hers and a beam still curving his lips.

Amy's pretty sure she's wearing a same expression of blissfulness on her face. Because despite everything, there's not a doubt to have: this is, by far, the best birthday she's ever had.


	124. You Make Me Feel Warm

****January 6th, 2019.****

Amy's already asleep when Jake walks into the room after a long day (and night) at work. He takes a moment to stop and look at her, a small smile forming on his lips at the sight she offers.

They might have been married almost eight months now, and been together much longer than that, he still can't get over how cute she looks tucked under the covers in her worn-out NYPD T-shirt she uses as her pajamas. He takes off his jacket, eager to get changed and join her as soon as possible. As he's taking off the rest of his clothes and finds himself shirtless for a few seconds, a cold shiver runs down his spine. Even with the heater on, the air still seems to be somehow chilly inside the room – chillier than usual.

(It _did_ feel like it was extremely and unusually cold outside during the very few minutes he had to walk from his car to the apartment.)

He hurries even more then and quickly slips under the covers to seek some warmth. Once comfortably settled there, he turns so that he's facing Amy, and another grin comes curving up the sides of his mouth as he watches her lovingly. It seems like he managed not to wake her up despite the noise he made while getting ready for bed.

He leans over and presses a soft kiss at the top of her head.

"Goodnight, babe," he says in a whisper.

She hums in her sleep and instinctively curls up against his side, her feet coming to rest against his legs. He startles at the touch.

They're _frozen_. He wasn't expecting that.

Sure, by now he's become used to her being always cold and seeking some of his body heat when they're lying in bed but it's never been that bad. It's nothing he can warm up by himself and if it hasn't already, he's pretty sure it'll wake her up at some point. And she won't like it.

That's why, despite the really comfortable position he's in and his eyes already shutting with exhaustion, he forces himself off the bed and goes straight to their closet without a second thought.

Jake immediately finds what he's looking for as he goes through his wife's stuff (it surely helps that, unlike him, Amy has a very methodical way of tidying up her clothes) and takes out a pair of warm, clean socks. He hurries back to the bed and takes a glance at her before making another move – she still doesn't seem the least bothered by his walking around.

He stands at the edge of the bed and removes the covers a little, showing her bare feet and puts the socks on them, careful not to wake her up.

She lets out an unconscious, yet sounding very satisfied sigh that makes Jake smile. He doesn't waste any more second after that as he joins her under the covers again. There, he finally closes his eyes, fully ready to let sleep take over his body now that he knows his wife is warm.

(Amy still wakes up in the middle of the night but it's not because she's feeling cold – it's quite the opposite even. Her feet are weirdly warm and feel like they're covered with socks she clearly remembers she did _not_ put on before going to bed. She looks down just to make sure, and the socks are there indeed. Which can only mean one thing: Jake did that.

She turns around to look at him and a soft smile spreads across her face as her heart warms up too at her husband's sweet gesture. It's something so simple yet so thoughtful and adorable, it might as well have taken the #1 place of her favorite moments in their relationship.

(And she has _a lot_ of them.)

 _Damn,_ she loves him so much.

She quickly lies down again, wrapping her arms around his middle and letting her head rest in the crook of his neck as she cuddles against him. Her smile is still there on her lips when she closes her eyes, lulled back to sleep by his quiet and even breathing and his body heat immediately warming her up even more.)


	125. Past the Clouds, We'll Find the Stars

There's a small detonation, then nothing but complete and deafening silence only broken when realization hits Amy.

" _JAKE!"_ she cries as she watches, helpless, glass shattering from the window of the room where her husband was stuck in and dark smoke now coming out of it.

Without a second thought, she rushes towards the hospital building.

* * *

If there's one thing Amy learnt from guarding a comatose perp all night, as well as other cases of her having to deal with unconscious people in the past, it's that they look just like they're asleep.

Jake makes no exception.

She remembers the first time she got to watch him sleep.

It was an early morning back in her first years as a detective at the Nine-Nine. She'd come in early and found him lying on the break room's sofa, trying to get some rest after a night spent working on a case. She remembers how she stopped at the doorframe and a small smile curved up the corners of her mouth at the sight. He seemed so peaceful then, a huge contrast to his usually very energetic – sometimes almost manic even – attitude. Part of his face was buried into the pillow and he looked angelic. A few strands of his messy curly hair were standing up at the top of his head and she suddenly felt the urge to smooth them down.

Of course she didn't – partly because she didn't want to wake up him but mostly because it would have been weird. They weren't even that close yet at the time.

She also remembers the first time she got to watch him sleep as she was lying on the bed next to him; the first time she could stare without fear of getting caught. It was on the morning after their first date, during which things started to heat up after 4 kamikaze shots and she urged him to take her to his apartment (the closest to the restaurant) despite their 'no sex right away' rule.

As she was looking at him, smiling in his sleep and taking most of the space on the mattress, she didn't mind breaking this rule at all.

She brought her hand to his hair and smoothed the messy curls down, met by a satisfied – yet still sleepy – sigh coming from his mouth at the touch.

She knew at that moment she was screwed.

If it wasn't for the constant (and very nerve-wracking) 'bip' of the pulse monitor by his side and the ugly burns on his face as well as the tube going inside his nose, the whole scene could easily look like they're at home, on one of these many mornings since their first one together she wakes up before him.

But this is not one of these mornings – she's not just waking up herself, as she hasn't slept all night. And Jake is not simply sleeping – he's unconscious, after finding himself stuck in a room where a bomb literally blew up hours ago, killing both Pam and the perp they were guarding on its way.

But not Jake. Somehow, he survived. Doctors said he's lucky he did. They also said he'll be even luckier if he ever wakes up. Amy laughed when they told her that.

"He will wake up," she answered, her voice firm and utterly convinced of her words. "He has to. I booked us a trip to the waterpark for our anniversary."

As if death cared about vacations.

Truth is, she was in too much shock to think coherently.

Now though the news has sunk in and her heart is hurting at the bare thought of losing Jake as she watches him sleep, her cheeks soaked in desperate tears and his cold hand wrapped in both of hers.

(Usually, _her_ body is the cold one he has to warm up with his natural heat.)

He's been in numerous life-threatening situations in the past and so did she, and both of them are used to trips to the hospital for a reason or another – but it's never been _that_ bad. And it never occurred right in the middle of a fight (or rather a 'devastatingly sad conversation,' as Jake put it himself earlier).

She'd never forgive herself if some of her last words to him were to be something she blurted out in the heat of the moment about _starting over_ with somebody else.

She doesn't want to be with somebody else (and technically, that's what she told him, but still) – she only wants him, now more than ever.

She _needs_ him to wake up.

(Sure, they still need to talk about kids and figure something out because she means it when she says she's always seen herself having children but presently it feels like it can wait a little longer.)

Amy doesn't really know how it went down like this but for sure this 'casecation' has turned into a complete 'casemare' very quickly and unexpectedly. What she'd give to go back to the beginning of the night, when they were having champagne and listing their top #5 moments of their first year of marriage with laughter and complicity…

They never even got to pick their favorite one.

"There were so many," she says out loud, talking to Jake, then starts listing a few – the time they put on matching clothes without planning it, the time a very cute and still so in love elderly couple walking hand-in-hand around the park hailed them and told them they reminded them of themselves, the time he silently grabbed her hand and shot a reassuring smile at her when the elevator of their building acted like it was going to stop working and they were gonna get stuck there, the time he surprised her with a fully cooked dinner without burning anything _nor_ making any mess in the kitchen…

She has enough stories to last for a lifetime. And it's only been _one_ year.

 _Every single day that I get to be with someone as amazing as you is crazy to me._

She sobs-laughs at the memory.

Suddenly though, Amy's cut in the middle of her ramblings by the small pressure of Jake's hand moving inside her own. Her heart starts pounding and when she looks at his face, she sees as his eyes are blinking until they fully open and meet her own. A pang of relief washes over her whole body at the sight of him staring back at her.

He quickly averts his gaze to look around though, scanning the place.

"What happened?" His voice is hoarse and the words seem painful to let out when he faces her again.

"You got taken in the middle of an explosion…" Amy doesn't really want to go too much into details and relive what was probably the worst moment of her entire existence.

There's a short pause after that, until something switches inside Jake's eyes as if memories are coming back to him.

"How are the others?!"

Amy opens her mouth but nothing gets out at first. She squeezes her husband's hand harder inside her own, trying to gain some courage.

She knows he's gonna get crushed over the news and probably blame himself for not being able to save them in the end.

"They… didn't make it. I'm sorry."

"Oh," he simply lets out before silence takes over the room. It's awkward and heavy and Amy wants to say something – anything – to lighten the atmosphere.

Jake beats her at it.

"There's only one bomb that could kill me."

"What?" she frowns, not sure she understood what he said.

His gaze fixates on her, staring deep into her eyes with an intense gaze before he blurts it out. "Your butt. Your butt is da bomb."

And just like that, the atmosphere switches – Amy chuckles through her still falling tears and her heart explodes with love for that man and relief that he's safe and sound. She leans over and kisses him as an answer, making sure to keep it tendre not to hurt him with the pressure of her lips against his. For just a second, it's like nothing that happened during the past evening ever existed.

"I love you so much," she whispers when they part. "I was so scared I was gonna lose you."

She strokes his cheek softly and he smiles at her.

"Me too."

Amy can read in his eyes he's not talking just about the bomb, but also the rest. She's about to say something when the door opens and someone comes inside, interrupting the moment.

"Oh my God, Jake!" Without a warning first, Karen rushes towards their sides – she looks absolutely terrified and devastated. "Are you okay?!"

"I am, mom. Don't worry." Jake shoots her a reassuring smile before exchanging a knowing glance with Amy.

"I'm gonna get some coffee." She doesn't want to leave her husband's side but she's not the only one who worried about Jake – Karen deserves some time with her son as well. She'll be back by his side in no time.

At least, she tries to remind herself, she's leaving him awake and as well as he could be after being caught in the middle of a bomb explosion.

* * *

Amy's back in the room exactly 30 minutes later, unable to wait for one more minute away from Jake.

It seems like he and his mother are in the middle of a conversation, that stops the moment she passes the door. She doesn't linger into it too much though, her eyes searching for his. He shoots her a reassuring smile when they meet.

Karen turns around to face her and smiles at her too before she stands up from the chair Amy herself had called her own the whole night as she worriedly watched her husband sleep and prayed for him to wake up soon.

"I'll leave you two alone." The older woman shoots her son a knowing look, kissing his cheek as a goodbye. She squeezes Amy's shoulder when she passes by her. "Keep me updated."

Amy simply nods in return. She doesn't waste any more second to claim back her seat as soon as her mother-in-law leaves. She scans Jake's face carefully.

"You okay?"

"Everything hurts," he winces, making her own heart hurt for him as well. "But I'll survive," he quickly reassures her.

Silence fills the room for a beat after that until Jake breaks it. He reaches for her hand and stares deep into her eyes with a shy glint shining inside his own.

The look on his face makes Amy frown.

"About last night…" he trails off. "Me not wanting kids…"

"We don't have to talk about it now," she cuts him off before he can say anything. There's already a new weight forming inside her chest at the mention of their potential future children. "We should just focus on you getting better right now."

"I know. But I want to talk about it now. I've been thinking – well, mostly I've been listening to my mother talk – and… I do want to have kids. With you."

He squeezes her hand with a smile and her heart instantly melts. This is not the turn she thought this conversation was going to take – and though she's thrilled he did, she doesn't understand what made him change his mind so quickly.

"You're not scared anymore?!"

"Oh no, I still am. Maybe even more so now with this reminder of how risky our job can be and how if we have a kid, this kind of situation would affect them as well. But my mom made me see that being scared isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's even a good thing – it means we care and we'll want to do better. Did you know my father was the one who was the most certain about having me?!"

Amy's features soften at his words, heart literally pounding in her chest with happiness. They're gonna have babies. Mini Jake and her running around the house. And she's pretty certain they're going to have the best dad ever.

"But…" Jake adds before she can reply with anything. "Can we wait a bit before starting trying? I'm not sure I'm quite there yet."

"Of course!" She immediately agrees. "Only when we're both 100% ready." She softly caresses his arm, smiling at him, and he shoots her a grin.

They spend the rest of the morning already brainstorming baby names.

(Next time they find themselves in a hospital room for more than a little injury, the places are reversed: Amy's the one in the bed with Jake by her side, carefully holding Atlas Peralta, 19.3 inches and 7.6 lbs. as they finally welcome their baby into the world after hours of labour.)


	126. Oh the Wonder that Awaits

**Oh the Wonder that Awaits (Forever Starts Today)**

The day is February 12th, almost 9 months after The Conversation, when it finally hits Jake.

The whole squad is celebrating Holt and Kevin's vows renewal. He's sitting alone at his designated table inside the huge and so beautifully decorated room, sipping a glass of champagne as he watches Amy play with Iggy and Ava. The three of them are moving around on the dancefloor and he has to admit, his wife __still__ doesn't know how to dance. Even the young girls seem to do better than her.

Yet it's the most adorable thing he's ever witnessed. They all seem to be having the time of their lives, swirling and giggling loudly. Jake can't help but laugh along with them.

Of course, with all the nieces and nephews and little cousins Amy has, this is definitely not the first time he's seeing her interact with kids. He's been looking at her interacting with them differently for the past months, though – trying to picture her with __their__ children, now that they talked about this very important part of their future they neglected before and she told him she wanted some.

( _ _Minimum two,__ she said when they talked about it in more depth and Jake agreed. As a single child – at least until he found out about his several half-siblings –, he always wondered what it'd be like, not to be alone with his parents. Maybe life would have been easier if he'd had someone else to share his pain with – someone who would have understood him, going through the exact same trauma.)

Trying to picture himself as a dad too, and figure out if he's fully ready for fatherhood or not.

Amy and the girls stop dancing, waving at him with the biggest smiles on their faces when their eyes meet, melting his heart as he waves back at them with the same beam and he thinks he finally is.

It's not really an epiphany that suddenly occurs to him on the spur of the moment – rather the peak of months of thinking about it.

Still, it's clear to him now: he wants to start a family. With her. Have children of their own to share silly dances with and wave back at with goofy grins. He's sure of it – as certain as he's been on the day he became a cop, asked Amy to marry him, bought an incredibly expensive pair of sneakers. Sure, it's still extremely scary to him – they're going to bring a whole __human being__ into the world who didn't choose to be born and who's gonna depend entirely on them, after all – but he learnt it's not such a bad thing.

He knows it only means he'll want to do better for their future child.

And damn right he will.

Suddenly, Jake feels the urge to stand up and join Amy on that dancefloor to tell her all about it, restless energy coursing through his veins. He doesn't need to though, because __she__ is the one to come back to their table soon enough – it seems like bedtime was coming for the girls and their respective parents took them away from her to tuck them in.

"These girls are so cute," she lets out with a dreamy sigh as she takes a seat next to him and watches Ava and Iggy hugging Holt and Kevin goodnight before sleep.

"They are," he agrees with his smile still bright on his features, looking in the same direction as his wife. She turns around to face him. That's when he blurts it all out. "I think I'm ready."

Amy frowns, looking confused.

"What for? You want to leave too? It's still so early," she retorts.

She doesn't seem to have understood what he meant – which is understandable, in a sense. They haven't talked about it in a while.

Jake chuckles lightly.

"No, not to leave." He brings out a hand from under the table and grabs hers, his gaze now turned soft and loving as he watches her intently. He takes a small breath before further explaining himself. "I wanna start our family. Now. I'm ready."

He sees as Amy's features soften immediately as well at the words. "You are?"

"Mmmhmm. I was watching you with Iggy and Ava and I thought __'I want this – for us'__." He shoots her a knowing grin.

It's all it takes for Amy to lean over, breaking the small distance between their bodies and kiss him with her free hand cupping his cheek. Her eyes are shining with pure bliss when they part and they stay close, drowning into each other's eyes as they don't want to let go until something switches in her gaze and she draws away. She searches her purse and takes out a notebook and a pen.

"There's gonna be _so much_ planning to do! We'll need to make binders and lists and read tons of books – I think my parents will let us borrow some…" she rambles excitedly.

Her enthusiasm makes Jake laugh.

"Easy, tiger," he mocks, though inside his heart is melting at the simple thought of getting ready for this new crazy adventure with the love of his life. "We'll have all the time to plan things. But maybe we can keep all of this for tomorrow and tonight we can start by, y'know, simply having sex – I'm still new to this 'wanting a baby' thing but I __think__ this is our best shot at making one?" He raises an eyebrow at her suggestively and this time, it's Amy's turn to chuckle. She lets go of her pen, blushing a little; he can see it starting at the tip of her ears.

(Secretly, he wishes for their future child's blush to look the same – because it's utterly adorable, the way her ears are slowly turning pink before it reaches her cheeks and neck.)

"Sorry, it's just… I'm so excited about this. We're gonna have a baby!"

"I know. I'm really excited too." Jake brings a hand to her cheek and strokes gently with his thumb, a soft smile lighting up his whole face before pressing a small peck on her lips. __They're gonna have a baby__ (or at least start trying) – hearing the words out loud from his wife makes his heart thump with joy in his chest.

"You really are? For realz?" Amy stills asks, though. He can see that behind their shared happiness, there's still some concern hidden inside her eyes.

He's quick to reassure her.

"For realz. I'm as certain I want this as I was on the day I decided I'd ask you to marry me."


	127. I'll Be by Your Side

**I'll Be by Your Side, You Know I'll Take Your Hand**

"I'm pregnant."

It's only three words, a short sentence, but the power it holds is enough to change a life. It takes Jake a full second for the realization to hit him but when it does, he can feel a rush of happiness coursing through his body and his heart starting to race in his chest. Amy, his wife, his favorite person in the whole wide world, is pregnant – with his baby. _Their_ baby.

They're really gonna do it – have kids together.

A few months ago such news who have been terrifying to him but now it's nothing but pure overwhelming bliss even though it still comes as a surprise. They only started trying a few weeks ago after all. He would have never imagined it would be _this_ quick before it works out for them.

But he's ready. More than he's ever been. And after the day he's had, the things he came across to, this is the best thing he could have come home to.

(Although technically, they're still at the precinct and not just yet at home. But with everything significant that happened in here in the past between them, the evidence lockup _does_ feel like home now.

And anyways, no matter where they might be, Amy _is_ his home.)

There are a million things Jake wants to say – a million things he wants to shout and sing at the top of his lungs – but they all get stuck at the back of his throat, too emotional to pass the barrier of his mouth. He takes a step forward then, framing his wife's face with both his hands before meeting her lips with his in a searing kiss to let her know exactly how he feels.

He rests his head against hers when they part, eyes looking down at her stomach. _There's a life growing there,_ he can't help but marvel.

"We're gonna be parents," he whispers dreamily and Amy nods slightly, both grinning with their eyes shining in the dark of the small room. A tear falls down her cheek that he softly removes with his thumb still resting on her face. "I love you so much." He presses another kiss, more tender this time, against her lips.

They barely have the time to draw away a little that the sound of the door opening distracts them in their intimate moment. It's Rosa, who frowns when she enters the room and finds them both crying – thankfully though, she doesn't ask any question. She simply lands her eyes on Jake.

"Captain wants to see you," she informs him.

"What does he want?" He doesn't move. This is not really the right time.

"I don't know. Go ask him yourself." Rosa shrugs.

Jake pauses, looking at his wife to seek her approval. He doesn't want to leave her so quickly after learning such life-changing news.

There's still so much they need to excitedly gush about.

"Go." Amy smiles softly at him and draws away from his embrace to emphasize her words. "I'll wait for you."

But Jake's still hesitant.

"It's okay, I promise. Go, it might be something important," she repeats more firmly this time and he reluctantly obliges.

"You guys are weird," Rosa comments with a jaded pout when he passes by her but he ignores it.

There are two other people inside Holt's office when he enters it – people Jake knows for a fact are part of the FBI. _This can't be good,_ he thinks as he nervously greets them and stands next to them. He can already tell this has to do with his case and the huge discovery he made about Commissioner Kelly. A rush of panic suddenly takes over him. _What if he gets fired?!_

This would be the worst timing ever, with this new member about to join Amy and his family…

"I guess you remember Special Agent Clarke from your time working with the FBI? This is his partner, Special Agent Rogers," Holt doesn't waste any time to do the introductions.

Jake only nods, waiting nervously to know more about his fate.

"The discovery you made about Commissioner Kelly? It's huge – it could dismantle the entire NYPD. But we lack evidence. This is why we couldn't let you arrest him. And this is also why we'd like you to go undercover and help us with the investigation," Special Agent Clarke lets it all out at once.

Jake's mouth opens, in shock, but no word gets out of it. It's a lot to process – definitely not the turns he thought these events were gonna take.

"Of course, as it is a dangerous mission that would take place over several months – we're thinking at least five – you don't have to give us an answer right away," the agent adds when a few seconds pass and Jake's still silent. "We can give you some time to think about it."

"No." The word eventually passes the barrier of his lips, firm and sure of him.

"What?" The confidence with which he declines the offer seems to take the others off guard.

Jake turns around for a second before further explaining himself. There, through the curtains, he sees Amy sitting at his desk and absentmindedly tidying it up – it seems like she came up from the evidence lockup to wait for him here. Watching her brings a fond smile to his face. When he puts his eyes back on the FBI agents and his boss, there's a new look of determination shining inside them.

"I'm sorry but I'll have to decline the offer. I really appreciate the faith you're putting in me, and if you'd asked me a few years ago I would have accepted without a second thought but… there's too much at stakes for me now. I can't abandon my family."

He's never been so sure of anything before – apart maybe from the moment he told Amy he fully was ready to be a father and he wanted them to start trying. He doesn't even feel an ounce of regret in his core as he lets out the words.

He's made up his mind, and nothing's gonna change his decision. It's crystal clear to him that nothing's more important than his wife and now future child. Not even this job he loves so much and the amazing opportunity coming with it.

There's absolutely no way he's going to leave Amy alone during her pregnancy. He has to be – and _wants_ to be – there every step of the way, from pulling up her hair while she throws up because of morning sickness to letting her crush his hand with hers during labor. And it's not just about their upcoming baby.

Even if he'd gotten the offer before Amy told him the great news, he would have still declined it. He wouldn't have left the love of his life alone _again_.

They've gone through enough separations in the past to last for a lifetime.

"Well, thank you for the work you've done so far. We won't keep you any longer." Special Agent Clarke nods understandably.

"Thank you, Sir."

Jake doesn't waste any more second and hurries out of his Captain's office, towards Amy. She smiles when their eyes meet and the way his heart rushes when he reaches her side confirms once again he made the right choice.

"What did Holt want?" she asks once he's facing her. She plays with one of the toys on his desk while she speaks.

"It wasn't Holt. It was the FBI. And they wanted me to go undercover."

At that, he can see her features harden and her smile falter all of a sudden. Her hands stop moving as she stiffens in front of him. The look of love she was wearing on her face is now replaced with a scared and horrified expression.

"Hey, relax." Jake brings a hand to her arm and strokes gently to calm her down. "I said I didn't want to go." He attempts a reassuring smile at her but it doesn't seem to help – nor do his words.

"Why? This is like, your dream job."

"Yeah. And you're my dream girl, remember? Dream _girls_ , even, now." He shoots her a bright, knowing beam. "Sure, I love my job, but you – _both_ of you – mean so much more to me than this. I couldn't leave you."

It finally seems to work as he sees Amy relax a little.

"You sure you won't regret it?" she still insists.

"Never," Jake assures. "Now let's go home? There's _so much_ we need to talk about." He gives her his hand and Amy takes it without replying anything, apart from letting out a small chuckle. It's only when they're inside the elevator that she talks again, her tone playful this time.

"So, you think it's gonna be a girl, uh? Wanna bet on that?"

"You know I do."

They exchange an amused grin and, as the elevator's doors close on them, he knows _this_ is right where he belongs. Right by Amy's side.


	128. Para Tu Amor

He takes his first class shortly after their wedding.

They're at Amy's parents' when the thought of learning occurs to him, celebrating their union with her whole family (which has officially become _his_ too, now) the way they should have on the D-Day. He's sitting on the sofa with one arm around her shoulders and his free hand holding a glass of champagne when two of her aunts take a seat next to them and interrupt their quiet conversation.

One of the two older ladies grabs Amy's hands, squeezing them in hers and starts talking. Jake can tell from the tone of her voice and the way his wife's face softens with every new word she lets out that she's saying something nice and sweet but he couldn't tell what it is exactly. Because she's speaking Spanish; a language he unfortunately doesn't speak himself.

He did pick up a few words throughout the years – mostly curses, which Amy sometimes lets out under her breath when she's tired and frustrated as well as a few words of love he's caught her whispering against his skin when she thinks he's asleep and can't hear her anyways. He adores the melody of it, especially coming from her mouth.

There's this one lullaby he knows as well, from the many times she sang it to him after he came back from prison and used to wake up in the middle of the night all sweaty and panicking from another nightmare. She would hum it to him while holding him tight and softly stroking his hair until he eventually fell back to sleep in her safe arms, lulled by the soothing sound of her voice.

But that's all he knows, and it's clearly not enough to follow a conversation in the language. He's used to this kind of situations by now; used to being left behind from time to time during family gatherings with the Santiagos. Even though usually, it happens when her parents want to judge him or her brothers want to tease him.

Which doesn't seem to be the case here. And for once, Jake wishes he could understand what this woman is saying so that he could get all flustered by her words as well.

That's why he makes the mental note he's finally gonna start learning. _For realz_ this time.

Because he already meant to do it in the past, when he was about to meet Victor Santiago for the very first time. He thought he could impress him this way. He dutifully downloaded Duolingo, meaning to use the app every night before bed, but ended up barely ever opening it. It wasn't his fault if it was right beside Kwazy Cupcakes on his phone – the game was far more appealing than the little green owl.

(He ended up deleting it altogether after a few weeks, annoyed by its passive-aggressive notifications guilting him about not using it enough.)

This time though, if he's gonna do this he's gonna do it right. He's gonna go through with it. He's gonna take classes.

As in, go back to school and all that stuff he thought he was done with forever.

(Damn, he really loves Amy _that_ much.)

He's a Santiago now – better live up to the name.

Jake doesn't tell Amy right away. He knows she'd be absolutely _thrilled_ to help him learn Spanish and really, it'd be more fun that way, but he wants it to be a surprise. He wants to see the look on her face when her family says something in the language and for once he doesn't have to ask for her to translate – better even, he can _answer_ them.

She's gonna be so stunned and proud of him. Probably a little horny as well.

( _Hopefully_ a little horny as well.)

(He doesn't think about it at the time, but when the time comes for them to have children, he'll definitely be happy to have learnt the language so that he can help raise their daughter – and her future siblings – to be bilingual as well.)

He's coming home from his 9th lesson when he finds Amy asleep on the couch with a small blanket draped over her body and some Netflix documentary playing on the TV. The sight of her, so adorably curled up with head comfortably lying against a pillow, instantly brings a fond smile to his face. He quickly takes off his shoes and jacket and hurries to her side, crouching in front of her.

There's a strand of her hair hiding part of her face; he gently places it back behind her ear then presses a soft kiss at the top of her head.

"Hola, mi amor," he whispers softly, his mind still thinking in Spanish after the class he just took – although he's still in the early process of learning and thus doesn't know that many words just yet. He takes advantage of his wife being asleep to keep practising a little. For once, _he_ can be the one saying words of love to Amy when she can't hear him and not the other way around.

He brings a hand to her cheek, stroking it with his thumb. She reacts to the touch with a small satisfied hum that makes him smile and settles further into the couch.

"Lo estas todo," Jake remembers this sweet sentence his professor used as an example to show him the difference between the verbs 'ser' and 'estar'.

(It's one of the rules he has the hardest time to understand, if he's being honest.)

"It's 'eres'." Amy's voice is so low at first, barely a mumble under her breath, Jake almost thinks he imagined it. But then she opens her eyes, wide and watching him curiously. "Jake? Were you speaking Spanish?" She startles up, suddenly wide awake.

 _Dammit_ , he thinks. He was sure she was deep in her sleep.

"No! Why would I speak Spanish? You know I can't speak Spanish!" Jake tries to deny it, on the defensive, but the look his wife gives him in return tells him she's not buying it at all. He sighs, defeated. "Okay, maybe I was speaking Spanish. And maybe I wasn't out with Charles tonight either…" He decides to completely come clean now that she caught him – there's no need to lie anymore.

Amy frowns.

"Where were you, then?"

Jake lets out another sigh.

"It was supposed to be a surprise. But I've been trying to learn Spanish lately. Been going to night classes and stuff."

"Oh, mama…" Amy's eyes instantly light up – she's surprised indeed, but that's not it; they're also shining with adoration and… some _lust_ , even. "You are?!"

He rolls his eyes in mockery, chuckling at her reaction.

(Seems like the news _definitely_ makes her horny.)

"Yep. Actually, I got my first grade today." Jake is quick to play along, talking in a suggestive voice and raising his eyebrows as he speaks. "And not to brag, but I did pretty well. Wanna look at it with me and help correct my mistakes?"

She makes another little squealing noise, staring right into his eyes with still the same glint in hers – although intensified now. "You're the love of my life. You know that, right?!" she blurts it all out so suddenly.

It makes Jake laugh (although inside, his heart does nothing but melt – she is his, too) as he takes her answer as a yes.


	129. An Interrupted Kiss

**A Kiss that Is Leading to More, But Is Interrupted by a Third Party**

Jake looks absolutely ridiculous.

To be fair, the whole scene is – him standing outside their building in his pajamas while Amy looks down at him from the window, like they're coming straight out of some cheesy fairy tale where the hero of the story wants to save the princess from her lonely tower. Although it's nothing of the sort here. If anything, __she__ is the one who's gonna come to his rescue by opening the door to him before the neigbors get tired of the noise he's making in the middle of a Friday night and decide to kindly make him shush by spilling a bucket of cold water all over him.

(They did it before, to some poor drunken kids passing by. She knows for a fact then they wouldn't hesitate to do it again, no matter who it is who makes that noise.)

There __is__ something in common between them and the fairy tale couple, though: they're bound to get married. In less than 16 hours, to be completely exact. Hence Jake's presence down there instead of in the bed beside her or even inside the apartment already – Charles confiscated his spare of keys when he picked him up earlier in the evening for a night at his house.

 _ _There's no way you two are spending the night together,__ he insisted, shooting them a knowing glare.

Charles should have known better. Because no matter how hard he tried to keep them apart like these stupid traditions said they should be on the night before their wedding, Jake apparently still figured out a way to sneak out without being caught.

"Can you let me in, please? We might be in May but it's __freezing__ outside." His voice takes Amy out of her amused thoughts.

"You sure I should? Charles won't be pleased if he finds out…" she trails off, just to tease him.

"I don't care about Charles. These traditions are dumb. I just want to be home. With _you_." He pouts and Amy laughs.

"Okay, Romeo. Let me open the door."

She leaves her spot by the window and hurries towards the intercom. Once there, she presses the button to let him inside the building. It only takes Jake a few minutes to appear on their doorstep, panting after having run up the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator.

"You're really nailing this romantic move," Amy mocks as she waits for him to catch his breath.

(In her chest though, her heart is melting from the simple sight of him. It might have been just a few hours since she last saw him, but she still missed him and couldn't find her sleep without her very-soon-to-be husband curled up by her side and warming her up with his body heat.)

Jake looks up at her and shakes his head in mock-annoyance. The corners of his mouth are still curled up with the beginning of a playful smile, though.

"Ha-ha, very funny, babe. But you don't know what lengths I had to go through to get out of that house without waking up the dogs. Those things are so huge and __terrifying__!" he complains dramatically.

 _ _Straight out of a fairy tale indeed,__ Amy chuckles.

"You're such a hero."

She brings her hands up his arms as he eventually straightens up and curls her hands around his neck. His own immediately fall on the small of her back, holding her close with a loving beam now covering his face. He's staring at her with the most tender look and Amy's pretty sure the same is reciprocated on her own features.

"Hi, babe. I missed you tonight." Jake's tone is soft when he talks again.

"I missed you too," she acknowledges.

His smile grows even wider at the simple answer. She can feel his grip on her body tighten as he takes a step closer to fill the small gap between them. She meets him halfway, her lips finding his in a kiss that's very gentle at first. It soon grows more demanding as Jake takes a few more steps and leads them inside though, closing the front door behind them for more privacy.

Amy's hands quickly head up, getting lost in his messy curls while he lets out a small grunt.

"I wasn't supposed to stay long… I just wanted to say goodnight…" he trails off between two kisses but doesn't act like he's going to break apart to leave soon despite his words.

"Mmhmm, you can go if you want," she mumbles but doesn't make a move either. On the contrary, she kisses him some more, not wanting to let go.

(And really, it's easy to tell Jake doesn't want to either.)

They slowly walk towards their room then, still wrapped up in each other and Amy's hands now heading south when the sound of the door being burst open suddenly startles them apart.

"Ha! I _knew_ I'd find you here!" Charles suddenly appears out of nowhere, looking at Jake with a dark, disappointed glare. He seems completely oblivious to the fact he's stepping on a very private moment between the future husband and wife – or he knows, but simply doesn't care. "I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but no love-making for you two tonight. You'll have all the time to make up for it tomorrow and on your honeymoon. We don't want this marriage to be doomed before it starts, do we?!" He watches them intently but Amy and Jake only pout in a matching disgusted face in return.

"Ew, gross. Charles, get out of here!" Jake snaps, his hands still on Amy's waist, holding her close. "It's just a dumb tradition, leave us alone."

"It's okay, babe," Amy joins in, offering him a soft smile. Maybe it's for the best they got interrupted finally – and she really doesn't feel like arguing with Charles right now. "It's late anyway. We should sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day."

"And a long night!" Charles proudly adds with a suggestive grin – she glares at him.

"You sure?" Jake chooses to ignore him, all of his focus on her only.

"Yes. We'll see each other soon enough." She strokes his arm gently. He still seems to hesitate for a beat before giving in. He leans over to press one last soft peck on her lips.

"As you wish, then. Goodnight, babe." He looks at her lovingly.

"Goodnight." Amy tightens her grip on his arm before eventually letting go.

"I can't believe you two are getting married tomorrow. We did it, guys." Charles sniffs behind them, making them look back. His eyes are filled with tears of emotion.

In other times, the fiancés would have complained about him, but for once they don't say a word. They simply shoot each other a knowing look and happy smiles following his words, thinking about the same thing. Just a few hours left and they're officially gonna be husband and wife, able to spend the rest of their lives by each other's sides…


	130. A Koala Hug

"Aw, babe, look at this one! I think I found my favorite. We should print it when we're back home, what do you think?"

Lying in their hotel room bed after having tucked their daughter in, Amy and Jake are looking at pictures they took earlier at the water park. She turns her phone around and watches Jake with fondness in her eyes as she shows him what's on the screen. His smile turns immediately soft as well at the sight.

The image is of him and Ana going down a water slide together with the little girl securely sitting on his lap. Both of them are laughing and waving at the camera. It was taken during her second ride of the attraction – she pulled at his hand and looked up at him with the same puppy eyes he himself mastered doing through the years to get something from Amy.

(Smart as she is, Ana picked up on it pretty quickly as well.)

"Daddy, I wanna go with you now!" she pleaded.

And of course he went, chuckling with his heart full of love when she started dancing in victory after he agreed (something she most definitely picked from her mother), his wife being the one staying behind this time. The picture perfectly captures the light atmosphere following this moment, and what their first day at the water park has been like: nothing but quality time as a family.

Nothing but pure unmitigated happiness.

"Definitely," Jake grins as he puts his eyes back on his wife. "We should send it to our parents too. Show them how much fun their granddaughter is having on her birthday."

At that, Amy lets out a sigh. Her eyes switch from Jake to the picture again. "I can't believe she turned four already," she dreamily says and Jake nods.

"I know."

It feels like it was just a few months ago they went there for the first time to celebrate one year of married life. And yet here they are again, more than half a decade later, with the newest addition to their little family not being a baby – not even a toddler – anymore. It's true, what they say; your kids grow up too fast.

Jake still has a very clear image in his mind of the day Amy told him the news, of the tears of joy streaming down both their faces at the words _I'm pregnant_. After she lied to him about it during the Cinco de Mayo heist, he didn't believe it at first, thought it was just another ruse he wouldn't fall for this time, but the moment he realized it was all true then, the happy tears became unstoppable.

He also perfectly recalls the long hours of his wife's labour (she went through them like a pro, although she almost broke two of his fingers in the process – the woman has _strength_ ), the sudden silence after one last push quickly followed by a piercing cry and the tiniest, most fragile human he'd ever seen being presented to the new parents.

 _It's a girl._

 _Welcome to the family, pal._

She's not that small anymore. She can run and talk and play and she's becoming her own little person already – an awesome little person, if you ask her parents (even if they have to admit she can be quite exhausting sometimes – the perks of being a Santiago Peralta). There's one thing that hasn't changed since the day of her birth (and even before that), though: the enormous amount of love she brings into the family.

Amy was right when she argued with him these years ago that children bring meaning and love into your life.

(And Hitchcock was unsurprisingly wrong when he said people with kids were less likely to be happy in their lives – he never felt as happy as he's been since Ana came along.)

It took time for him to _get there_. Took time for the image of him as a potential father to linger into his mind and feel right and heartwarming, even if he started to try to picture himself as such no later than a week after The Talk, while surrounded with all of these children running around the same water park they were at today. _I would never go with you, but you know who would? Your kid._

He tried to picture what it'd be like back then, but now it's the reality. He is here, with his dream girl, and their perfect daughter.

Sure, he freaked out about it more than once, had several of his therapy sessions entirely dedicated to his fears of fatherhood, and he's still afraid he's gonna mess something up sometimes, but it's oh so worth it in the end.

He wouldn't have it any other way.

"Mama! Daddy!" A little crying voice coming from the room beside theirs startles Jake out of his reverie. He recognizes his daughter's call immediately – he's been reassuring her after a nightmare enough times by now to know what this is all about just from the tone of her voice and the tremors he can make out in there as she calls for her parents.

He exchanges a quick glance with Amy.

"I've got this."

She nods at him and he gets out of the bed, wasting no more time to head to Ana's room. He finds her sitting on the mattress with her favorite teddy bear wrapped around her tiny arms, holding onto it as if life depended on it and her eyes filled with tears. Jake takes a seat by her side.

"What's up, Ananas? You had a bad dream?" he softly asks.

She doesn't say a word – simply nods her answer before throwing herself into his embrace. She buries her head against his chest. Jake gently smooths down her dark curly hair (that, she got from him) in a soothing gesture.

"It's okay, sweetheart. You're awake now. I'm here," he whispers reassuring words.

They stay like this for a little while, with Jake trying to change his daughter's mind until Ana draws away from him and looks into his eyes. He can see then she's not crying anymore.

"Feeling better?" He smiles at her with relief.

He hates seeing her sad, or afraid, or anything that isn't happy and well.

"Yes…"

"Ready to go back to bed?" he asks in a hopeful tone but her eyes grow bigger and her lower lip starts shaking with new upcoming tears as soon as he lets out the words.

"Can I stay with you and Mama a little?" she innocently pleads. Jake considers her question for a beat, but quickly agrees – it's still early and they're on holidays, so if it can help her feel better…

Plus it's her birthday. He can't deny her this on her birthday.

"Okay. But then it's back to bed, promise? You need to rest if you want to play in the water park tomorrow."

"Promise!" She extends her hands in her father's direction so that he can grab her. She wraps her arms around his neck and her legs around his body as soon as he lifts her up, literally glueing herself onto him. He walks to his own bedroom like this then, with his daughter holding onto him koala-stylez. His own arms are keeping her close to his chest to make sure he's got a good grasp on her. She nuzzles her head inside the crook of his neck and Jake smiles.

It's in moments like these he realizes how much she's grown the most – for sure she's not that little baby whose head could easily fit in the palm of his hand so that it wouldn't fall back and who barely weighed anything anymore.

She's _four years old_.

She's a preschooler.

But she's still his little girl who will hold onto him every chance she gets.

(He surely doesn't mind – quite the contrary. He dreads the moment he won't be able to carry her like this anymore, with her little arms and legs wrapped around his torso and hugging him tight.)

He sees Amy frown at first when he doesn't come back alone, before her face quickly softens at the (adorable, he can only assume) sight they offer.

"Someone wants to spend some time with us to recover from her nightmare," Jake answers his wife's silent question as he carefully sits down and Ana finally lets go. She easily finds her preferred spot in-between her two parents, all safe and sound when she's curled up against both of them.

"Wanna look at the pictures we took today?" Amy offers once everyone's perfectly settled, her phone still in hand.

"Yes!" Ana seems thrilled by the idea.

This is how they find themselves going through her camera roll and reliving the highlights of their day together with occasional bursts of laughter. Ana's nightmare is soon completely forgotten – so much so that she eventually falls asleep against her mother's side, exhausted from a full day of playing in the water. Her head rests against Amy's arm and her little hand instinctively curls around the woman's NYPD T-shirt.

Jake watches them with a dreamy beam showing up on his face. The scene's adorable – he needs to have it captured so that he can go back and look at it forever. Even though he already has tons of pictures like this, of his two dream girls sleeping. He'll never get tired of such a sight. This is why he grabs his own phone and takes a few shots, all the while making sure he doesn't wake up his daughter in the process. Once satisfied with them, after exchanging a knowing glance with Amy and the both of them kissing Ana goodnight on the top of her head, he takes her back to her bedroom and tucks her in again.

It's only then, when it's just him and Amy again and he's comfortably settled under his own covers with his wife curled against his side now, that Jake takes a look at the pictures he took. He stops at the best one, a fond smile forming on his features.

His heart warms up in his chest as he shows it to Amy.

" _This_ is my favorite picture," he proclaims with a huge loving grin.

(They end up sending both clichés to their families – the one at the water park and the other –, as well as a selfie of the three of them with their daughter they also took during the day while eating well-deserved birthday ice creams.)

(Ana doesn't have any more nightmares that night – on the contrary, she dreams of herself going down the water slide with her parents again, as she happily and excitedly tells Jake and Amy over breakfast.

And, as they all go down the attraction once more later that day, her dream becomes reality.)


	131. One Step Closer

In the midst of the storm, there's finally light.

Or at least, metaphorical (and artificial) light, as the sun has set a long time ago, making space for the night and its characteristical darkness to take over. The sky above is a mix of dark blue and black, dabbed with occasional clouds bringing some paler shades to the picture it draws. 5:30 pm has long since gone on this fine day of May 15th, and Jake and Amy still aren't married.

 _Yet._

"You sure you wanna do it here?" she asks through the phone, her eyes fixed in front of her trying to make out his silhouette in the middle of the crowd of people standing on the other side of the bridge. Despite the lights of the police cars blocking the way that are blinding her, she can still easily recognize him. His bright white shirt stands out from the other officers' otherwise dark uniforms.

(How he managed to keep it clean and pristine is a mystery, knowing him and after the day of running around the city they had.)

"Amy Santiago, I would marry you any time, any place. Plus how cool is it to get married on the Brooklyn Bridge?" His voice is as confident as ever. He's standing so far away from her that his face comes out blurry to her eyes but still, she can tell he's grinning.

A soft smile forms on her own features. "Okay, then. Let's do this."

"I'll see you in the middle."

Amy takes a deep breath as she hangs up and puts her phone away. She takes a second to look around before she starts walking. Gina and Rosa are here by her side; they knowingly nod at her when their gazes meet. The huge buildings behind and in front of her are all illuminated – life is still running at full speed out there on the shore, even this late at night, while it seems suspended up here above the water.

It's a weird, yet much-welcomed contrast to the bustle of what was going on here barely an hour ago. Of what is normally going on here every day.

Indeed, the usually very packed way in front of her is empty, except for Captain Holt standing in the middle of the bridge and waiting for the two fiancés to join him on the made-up altar.

This is not what they spent months planning.

This is somehow _perfect_.

Amy takes a first step forward and, on the other side of the bridge, Jake does the same. Her heart is pounding in her chest but it's not out of fear or possible second thoughts. It's out of love for the man standing across the bridge, getting closer and closer to her with each new step they take towards the center – towards one another.

It's out of excitement and eagerness to finally be reunited with the love of her life after such a long and tiring day, and this for the rest of their existence.

They'll finally be able to seal this promise of a lifetime.

Part of their squad is standing behind him, just like she knows the other part is standing behind her as well, following short to get closer and enjoy the ceremony. But Amy doesn't pay them any attention – it's like all the lights of the bridge, of the whole city even, are bent down on Jake, and Jake only.

The rest doesn't matter.

"Hey, you." They eventually join each other on the altar. Jake's smile is as bright as the stars above. (As bright as the lights on the bridge.) "You look beautiful," he says softly. His eyes are scanning her, up and down, shining in the dark of this quiet night. The dress she's wearing is not the one she chose – it's not even hers – but it is beautiful indeed.

And she does look absolutely stunning it in.

"Thank you." She can feel the upcoming blush burning the tip of her ears and upcoming tears prickling in her eyes.

A beat passes, during which none of them loses sight of the other, until Holt speaks up when everyone's settled around them.

"We are here today to celebrate the wedding of Jake Peralta and Amy Santiago…"

In the midst of the storm, there's finally light, as Jake and Amy seal their union with a kiss under the calm Brooklyn sky after such a chaotic day they had.

And as they part, eyes still stuck on the other and a smile full of adoration and pure awe, it's clear they wouldn't have had it any other way.


	132. She's the Rope that Holds Me

At first, he doesn't talk about Amy.

To be fair, he doesn't talk much at all, no matter how hard his cellmate tries to make conversation. It's a rare sight, a quiet Jake Peralta.

But that's what being wrongfully accused and sentenced to prison does to him. He doesn't talk and wallows in his misery.

And when he does let out a word or two, it's not to talk about Amy. It's not that he doesn't think about her – because he does. All the time. She's with him, inside his mind, following his every step.

She's even here when he closes his eyes and haunts his dreams.

But he doesn't talk about her. It's just too painful.

"Is that your wife?" She's one of the first things Caleb asks about when Jake arrives and hangs up the two pictures he was allowed to bring with him above his new tiny bed.

The words sting hard, piercing right through his core and shattering his heart in millions of little pieces. He has to fight for the tears not to stream down his face, never stopping.

"She's my _girlfriend_ ," he corrects after taking a deep breath. He doesn't linger on the topic – doesn't let his cellmate know of the small box hidden somewhere in one of his drawers back at home.

Doesn't talk about his plans of asking her to become his wife indeed, and how they're up in the air now that he's in prison for who knows how long.

(Up to _fifteen years_ if his colleagues don't find a way to innocent him and Rosa.)

It's best, for his own sanity, not to think about it. Not to talk about Amy.

"She looks sweet," Caleb comments and Jake simply nods with his eyes stuck on the pictures. _She's the best,_ he lets out a desperate sigh.

(It's better he didn't know at the time his cellmate is _cannibal_ who could have most possibly talked about how _worth eating_ she seems. Jake would have never mentioned her name ever again otherwise.)

After a while though, he starts befriending him. Tells himself they're the same – likes to think Caleb's just another cop wrongfully accused of his doings. The guy's nice and supportive.

And Jake could use some company.

So he starts opening up to him, and talks about Amy.

Once he starts talking about her, he never stops again. He manages – most of the times not even on purpose – to bring her up in almost every conversation they have, no matter what it's about.

 _Amy told me that,_ he explains when he tells his cellmate something smart. _I watched it with Amy!_ he recalls as they recommend each other movies. _Amy would have loved this joke,_ he pouts when Caleb doesn't always understand his sense of humor. _I'm seeing Amy in three days!_ He wakes up happier when visiting day draws nearer.

 _I miss Amy,_ he lets out the most, with a desperate sigh.

Not a day goes by without him bringing her up at least once, and he misses her more with each new passing day.

This is how he gets the idea, during another of his sleepless nights spent staring at the wall beside him and the pictures hanging there. She's _the love of his life_ – that he's known for quite some time now, although it's only since the fine day of April 28th he decided he'll finally act on it. And if he was planning on doing so earlier, would have he not been found guilty for this crime he and Rosa didn't even commit, all of a sudden the Halloween heist seems like the perfect occasion. It's always a night full of surprises and events nobody can see coming.

And what's more surprising than a proposal?

He'll have to think about the specifics, but one thing is sure in his mind as soon as the thought crosses his mind: somehow, he'll have to find a way for them to be alone in the evidence locker when midnight strikes. Amy will have to believe she just won the heist yet another year – only to realize it's something else she won (hopefully, at least).

It's clear to him he's gonna propose right where their story started – right where he, as Jake Peralta and not his Johnny persona, kissed her for the very first time.

(And what a kiss it was.)

(Damn, he really misses the taste of her lips.)

It truly helps, thinking about all of this. It gives him a purpose; something to hold on to and not give up on hope.

(It also hurts every time his mind goes to darker places during some of his worst days, though. It tries to persuade him he's not gonna be out in time to put his plan into action, and that despite her promise to wait for him, if he really stays locked in there for fifteen years she'll get tired at some point and it's somebody else she's gonna marry. He's gonna rot in there and die alone.)

(But then he sees her for the first time after three weeks, and she pulls him into the tightest hug and it's all it takes to tame his inner demons. He listens to her talk, his eyes switching towards her empty hands on the table and starts picturing a ring shining right there on her left finger – the same ring that's waiting for him to take out of its box and give to her back at home.)

Caleb seems genuinely enchanted by the idea as soon as he hears it. He gets so invested even, he quickly brainstorms ideas for Jake's proposal plan too. Both of them can spend hours working on it, sitting in the library and thoroughly writing everything down in details.

Jake's not the only one to never shut up about Amy then – Caleb is too. Even though he only knows her through her boyfriend's stories.

(He's grateful his cellmate never brings up the fact he might very well still be in prison by the time Halloween 2017 comes around – and the next ones as well, up until Halloween _2032_. He'd go crazy otherwise.)

It only makes sense then, when their paths cross again about two years later, that the first thing Caleb asks Jake about is Amy.

" _How's Amy?"_

" _She's great! We're married and she's a Sergeant now."_

Both these things happened more than a year ago but still, telling _Caleb_ about them does something to Jake's heart. Talking with and about ex-inmates remind him of a time that still haunts him sometimes and he'd rather forget forever. It brings him back to when he was facing an uncertain future – when he'd wake up each morning not knowing when he'll get to do so with more than just a picture of the woman he loves by his side but her true, tangible body. It's all resolved now, though; thankfully.

Almost two years after he got released from prison, he knows what the rest of his life looks like. And it looks just like _Amy_.


	133. An Unexpected Kiss

**An Unexpected Kiss that Shocks the One Receiving It**

When it comes to playing beer pong, Detective Sarah Jones is a total pro. Her reputation goes back to her days at the academy, and everyone at her precinct knows she'll never back out from a game if she's invited to play one (that is, when she's not the one initiating it herself – or directly asking to be part of it).

This is why, when she and her colleague walk into Detectives Jake Peralta and Amy Santiago playing against one another during another of the Buffalo P.D. parties at one of the annuals Tri-State Police Officers Convention, she doesn't hesitate to suggest she and Detective Matthews should join the game as well to make it more interesting thanks to a little competition between their two precincts.

She knows Peralta pretty well – enough to know how competitive he can get, even more so after a few drinks. As for Santiago, it's only the second year she's meeting her, but she can already tell Peralta has found a match in his still fairly new partner, if only from the way she gloats and teases him when she suddenly throws the ball right into his last glass.

This little victory of hers doesn't intimidate Sarah one bit. Both cops look completely hammered (she could easily tell Santiago's shot came out of pure luck rather than true talent) while she's still seeing everything clearly. She doesn't feel tipsy at all, despite the few drinks she previously downed. There's not a doubt to have, then – she and her own partner are gonna _destroy_ them.

What she didn't plan though – what he didn't say –, is for Matthew to be so bad at it and their opponents to make such a good team. They seem as determined to prove they're the best as she is and don't look so drunk anymore; they're rather very focused on the game and in complete sync. They who were acting like rivals mere minutes ago are now hyping each other up when it's their turn to play and high-fiving every time they score a point (which unfortunately for her, happens more often than Sarah would like). They even get a cheerleader in Charles Boyle, one of their friends and colleagues who joins the small group at some point.

The only thing that remains the same is how they still blame each other when they miss their shot. Although if you ask her, it sounds more like flirty banter than true insults.

Actually, the longer the game lasts and the more drinks they have to down, the more flirty they become around one other. Not that Sarah cares much about it – if anything, it mostly annoys her, as it makes them waste time instead of keep on playing.

For a while the game remains a tie, with only one glass left to hit on each side of the table. That is, until Peralta finally throws the ball in the last of Sarah's team glass, and _she_ is the one who needs to throw it back into his and Santiago's if she doesn't want to lose.

The atmosphere becomes heavy all of a sudden as she focuses on the red glass in front of her and she can feel all pairs of eyes staring at her.

"You can do this!" Matthews tries to show some support but she quickly shushes him.

She can't have anyone distracting her right now – especially when Peralta and Santiago are already doing a great job at it, acting like they already won. She really can't miss this one shot.

She's Sarah fricking Jones, queen of beer pong. There's no way she's gonna be defeated tonight and become the shame of her precinct for not being able to defend her squad against the Nine-Nine.

She needs to show these New-Yorkers what they're capable of, back in Buffalo.

She takes a deep breath, never losing sight of her goal despite the noise her opponents can make, and finally throws the ball… only for it to land on the floor.

" _Shit!"_ she curses in desperation, while in front of her she witnesses Santiago turning her attention away from the game and throwing herself into Peralta's arms with excitement. She crushes onto his chest with a huge victorious grin on her face. She encircles his neck with her arms, looking up at him before she kisses him on the lips without a warning first.

It makes Sarah frown – she didn't know the two were _that_ close.

They did flirt a lot for the past hour but she never imagined they would actually act on it at some point. And, from the way he reacts to the kiss – even though it's nothing more than just a peck –, with his eyes opening big and staring at her in shock, it seems that Peralta wasn't expecting that either. For a second his gaze switches towards Sarah; it seems like he's trying to seek into hers some proof that what just happened wasn't a drunken hallucination he had.

She nods at him with a small smile and he turns around.

His grip on Santiago's back is loose, barely touching her as he hugs her back. The cockiness he was previously showing is now completely gone. He doesn't seem to care that much about his victory anymore, lost in his thoughts with a small blush covering his cheeks.

On the other hand, Santiago doesn't seem the least disturbed by her partner's change of attitude – she doesn't even seem to be aware of what she just did.

All she cares about is they _won_.

"We _crushed_ you!" She draws away from Peralta's arms as suddenly as she threw herself into them, now looking into Sarah and Matthews's direction with a proud, daring glare. "Nine-Nine!" she then shouts to Peralta's attention, raising her hand into to air for him to clap with his.

It takes him a few seconds to go out of his trance and high-five her.

"You're the best, Jakey!" Boyle joins in from behind them, drunkenly half-asleep on a chair.

The two teams part not long after for the rest of the night. Sarah quickly loses sight of the two friends (soon-to-be-lovers?) and the game and what followed is never talked about again once in the next few years. Peralta and Santiago weirdly never tease her and Matthews about their victory; Sarah's not the one who will do so on her own – she'd rather forget about this shameful moment for her.

She doesn't talk about it even to know whether or not the two partners hooked up after the kiss or even dated – they're not a couple when they come back the next year, which means if something _did_ happen between them, it didn't last. She doesn't want to say something wrong then.

Then she kind of forgets about it.

It's only years later, when Santiago and Peralta announce they're getting married that the night is mentioned again. Sarah's standing with Matthews and some of the fiancés' colleagues when he congratulates them.

"I knew from the moment you guys first kissed after winning against us at beer pong all these years ago that you were made for each other," he says with a soft smile.

In front of her, both Santiago and Peralta frown as they share a confused look – their reaction prevents her from glaring at her partner for bringing that topic back.

"We didn't first kiss here at the convention."

It's Sarah's turn to frown at this new piece of information.

"Oh, sorry. I just assumed it was the first time, y'know, since you seemed pretty surprised she'd kissed you," Matthews goes on as he looks at Peralta.

"Wait, what are you talking about?! When was that?!"

"About 6 years ago. We played beer pong and Amy kissed you when you guys won the game?"

The look the couple gives each other is priceless. It's clear they don't remember the night – it makes sense then they never mentioned the game and gloated about it in the previous years.

"You guys kissed 6 years ago and never told me?!" Boyle is the first one to say something.

"I… don't remember it. Do you?" Peralta turns to his future wife. He looks really lost.

"Me neither," she acknowledges.

It makes Sarah chuckle. The situation is truly amusing to her. "Well, you did. And you were there too, Boyle," she adds to the fire.

" _WHAT?!"_ he screams. "Jake and Amy kissed in front of me and I don't remember it?!" He sounds desperate – which only makes Sarah laugh more.

She's about to say something but Peralta beats her at it.

"So wait." He ignores his friend's ramblings. He looks like he's trying to put the pieces together. "You're saying we first kissed all these years ago _here_ at the convention?!"

"Yep. Santiago straight up jumped into your arms and kissed you. You looked stunned for a few seconds after that, like you didn't know if what just happened was real. But it was."

"Aww, babe. I didn't know you had a crush on me so early after we met, it's so cute," Santiago teases him as she puts a hand on his chest with a smirk on her face.

"Well, _you_ 're the one who kissed me apparently. So if one of us had a crush on the other, that's probably _you_ ," he answers in a same tone.

It makes Sarah roll her eyes, faking annoyance in front of their cheesiness. She can't retain the small smile that forms on her lips, though – just like her colleague, she always thought these two were made for each other, especially as years went by and she witnessed them getting closer and closer during the conventions' parties. She was truly happy when they arrived here as a real _couple_ one year – it was about time they finally got together.

And she's even happier now they're about to tie the knot.

"And so we won at a beer pong game against you, uh? Tell us more about it." The two fiancés take her out of her reverie when they're done teasing each other and bring their attention back on her and Matthews.

Instinctively, Sarah tries to deny it. "Actually, what Matthews meant to say is that _we_ won. Like, a crushing victory. Maybe that's why you don't remember it. It was too embarrassing for you."

It doesn't work, obviously; and quickly the idea of playing another round is thrown into the air.

(Sarah and Matthews _do_ win, this time. But even if they lose, Amy still kisses Jake once the game is over – and this time, his only reaction is to bring her closer to him and tenderly kiss her back.)


	134. With the Ghost of You

Amy Santiago isn't one to do things last minute.

On the other hand, she almost always finds a way to be ahead on every task she's given. She loves making plans, and binders, and her organization skills have earned her a lot of great reviews from her teachers back when she was still at school – and even after that, from her different bosses. It also allows her to be on time everywhere she goes, or to never miss a deadline.

Today though, for one of the rare times in her life, she's running late. And she can't even blame it on a problem at the bank – this is all her fault. She has to be at Gina's baby shower in less than two hours and hasn't bought a gift for her or the future baby yet. She's been postponing the moment until the last minute. And she doesn't even have a list to go by that could save her from having to think about what the future mother would want. Because unlike she would have done on any other occasion, she hasn't even started to _think_ about it yet.

(For her defense though, she hasn't thought about much else than _how to innocent her boyfriend and best friend and take them out of jail_ for the last few weeks.)

It's weird, to be honest, how Gina didn't make a list. Amy was actually expecting for her to send her some suggestions after she told the squad about the baby shower, followed with a witty comment about how she wasn't going to like her gift otherwise. But she didn't.

She didn't make a list, and she didn't make fun of her either.

In fact, she hasn't made fun of Amy in a while now. And even though she should be happy about it, she actually hates how Gina seems to have turned softer on her. She hates it, because she hates the reason why – hates that it's all because she has enough on her plate already to add to the fire, with her boyfriend being locked behind bars so far away from her.

She'd trade Gina's kindness for his freedom in a heartbeat.

Said boyfriend is also the reason why she waited for so long before heading to the store and buy something, actually. He's missed on so many things already, Amy couldn't bear the thought of him missing another one – she couldn't bear the thought of her going to another event without him. So she postponed the moment, over and over, holding onto the hope he'd be free before the baby shower happens. Holding onto the hope they could go gift shopping _together_.

The fact that she's currently all alone in a toys store is nothing but the painful reminder her hopes were in vain and Jake's still very much in prison.

She and the rest of the squad are still nowhere near finding anything to innocent him and Rosa.

Walking through the different units is hard, especially as she passes by several happy families with excited children and adoring parents. It reminds her of her own uncertain future. Reminds her how much she wants to have kids someday and how it might never happen now if Jake does have to remain behind bars for the next fifteen years. They haven't even had the time to talk about babies yet – and maybe they won't ever have the chance to.

(It's better for her mental health if she tries and doesn't think about it.)

Her breaking point comes when she reaches the stuffed animals' section of the store, though. Among the different bears and horses and hippos and literally any other animal a child could dream of, stands a shark that looks painfully familiar. It looks just like her boyfriend's own stuffed animal, which used to be put away in one of their drawers since he moved into her apartment and is now shamefully lying on their bed. Amy holds onto it every night as she falls asleep, catching her tears as she breathes into what remains of Jake's scent after one of the worst days.

It's nothing like _his_ presence next to her on his side of the bed, nothing like _his_ body to wrap her arms around and cuddle, but at least it's better than nothing. It's a little soothing.

It reminds her of him.

It reminds her of the first time she saw the toy and teased Jake about it – and how offended he looked when she dared to make fun of _Jaw-n McClane_ , as he called it.

(She rolled her eyes at the name despite the small burst of laughter she let out. _Of course_ he'd call it that.)

He'd be the one teasing her now, if he knew she can't sleep without it anymore.

A quiet sob escapes her throat at the thought. She can feel the panic attack creeping upon her, eyes stuck on the shark as she can't take them away from it. The tears quickly come, falling down her cheeks and soon become unstoppable.

 _God, she misses him so much._

She thought she'd reached rock bottom when he was away in Florida but this new terrible situation they're stuck in is starting to prove her wrong. Her heart has never hurt so bad.

"Are you alright, Ma'am?" A voice takes her out of her desperate trance. She startles as she turns towards where the sound came from and finds herself with one of the staff's members standing beside her. The younger girl is looking at her with sympathy and worry in her eyes. It's only then Amy realizes how loud her breathings have grown and how her hands are slightly shaking. She brings one to her face to wash off the salty pearls and nods at the girl reassuringly.

"Yes, I… I'm sorry. I'm okay." She sniffs, trying to regain some composure. She can feel the tip of her ears burning; she's ashamed of the 'scene' she just made in the middle of the store.

"You sure? You don't need anything?" The girl doesn't seem convinced by her words.

"No, thanks." Amy manages a half-smile. "I just… I need to go. I'm actually late for something. Thanks," she repeats. She doesn't wait for an answer to run towards the exit door.

She needs to get out of here. She needs some fresh air or she's gonna suffocate again.

Her eyes are puffy and red from having cried too much when she eventually makes it to Gina's baby shower thirty minutes after the agreed-upon hour, with no better gift than a poor envelope with some cash in it but nobody makes any comment about any of those. And this time, Amy is grateful for her friends' consideration.

(Next time she steps foot in a toys store again to buy Gina's baby a gift, little Iggy is born and well and Amy's not alone anymore – Jake is with her, trotting around the different units like an excited child. She watches him do with a huge grin on her face and her heart warm in her chest. Her future isn't uncertain anymore.

The ring that's standing out on her left finger and the promise of forever attached to it are a good testimony of what the next – many, hopefully – years of her life are about to look like.

Full of joy and unmitigated love.)


	135. I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing

It'd been established very early in their relationship that whenever they weren't working, Sunday mornings in the Santiago Peralta household were made for sleeping in.

It was a little habit of theirs (initiated by Jake himself) to enjoy their time cuddling in bed in the dark of their room until the sun was shining high outside, blinding them through the curtains and forcing them up and out of the room. Sometimes, one of them would maybe surprise the other with some homemade breakfast in bed in a pure act of romance and want to please their other half, which often lead to some grateful morning sex.

At least, it was the case until they welcomed a new member inside their family. As soon as little Ana Santiago Peralta came into their lives, the whole concept of resting became a long lost memory. Being woken up at ungodly hours of the night by the newborn's piercing cries had to be their new normal.

Still, neither Jake nor Amy would trade being parents for absolutely anyhing in the world – not even one well-deserved Sunday morning in bed, just the two of them.

Little Ana's presence in their life is more than enough to make up for their lack of sleep.

She's 9-month old when Amy has to leave her husband and daughter behind for a whole weekend for the first time. She doesn't want to, but doesn't really have a choice either – she has a presentation to show on a Sunday morning at a police convention out of state. And it's something she can't miss, it being another step towards her goal of making Captain someday.

She wakes up around 5:30 to go through her presentation one last time and make sure she's ready despite having spent what must have been one of the worst nights of her entire existence (if you don't take into account the nights she had to spend without Jake while he was in Florida or in prison). She finds it hard to get some rest when she's so far away from her beloved family.

She still manages to wake up early, though – her body's used to the lack of sleep now.

She sits on her bed and turns on the bedside lamp. It takes her a few seconds to adjust to this new light but as soon as she does, she grabs her computer and opens it on her lap to look at the PowerPoint she perfectly put together. She starts to read through it, but soon realizes it's hard to focus on her work.

Everything's calm around her – too calm, even. She hasn't been used to this kind of silence in months. And, instead of helping her put her attention solely on what's on her screen, the quietness makes her thoughts linger towards New York City and what's happening at home.

What Jake and Ana are doing.

Is she letting him sleep a little, or is it one of these regressive nights she seems to be having lately, unable to sleep correctly anymore?

Amy feels a little guilty she left him to take care of their increasingly energetic and curious 9-month old alone. He's the one who insisted she should go though, when she was about to decline the offer.

She truly found her right person in him, because not only is he a perfect husband, she also discovered (never doubted so) he's the perfect father too.

Still, she misses her family and wishes she could be waking up by their sides right now and not alone in this hotel room. Luckily for her, she has a way to see and hear them. It's an idea Jake and she got from an old case they solved together – back when they were no more than two coworkers fighting over who was the best detective. They turned one of their daughter's decorative teddy bears into a monitor and had Gina make the IT guys below their floor at the precinct connect it to their personal phones and iPads so that they can check on her wherever they are.

(It's crazy what technology can do nowadays.)

It was very useful for Jake when he first had to go back to work after his paternity leave ended and he couldn't bear the thought of missing on any of Ana's first months into this life.

Right now, it's Amy's turn to be grateful for it as she turns on the device, ready to sneak a peek on her baby girl. She frowns when she notices the bed's empty. She doesn't have the time to wonder nor worry about it though, because only a few seconds later Jake appears into the frame, holding Ana close to his chest as he rocks her.

Immediately, a smile forms on Amy's face.

"You miss Mama, uh?" His voice is sleepy and she can see him fight back a yawn. "I know, me too. I don't really sleep well without her either. But she's being a total badass right now. Well, actually, she always is," Jake starts rambling. Every new word he lets out warms Amy's heart a little more. In his arms, Ana listens to her father with her big brown eyes staring right at him.

 _Damn,_ she misses them as well.

"She's done a lot of badass things," he goes on. "Like, I know I always tell you about how great your Mama is, but did I tell you of the time she caught a bad guy while wearing a _wedding dress_? I wasn't there, but I wish I were. She told me about it, and Rosa told me about it. And apparently it was amazing. But I don't doubt it. She's an amazing Sergeant. And she's gonna make an even better Captain."

Her eyes are starting to get teary and blurry with the emotion but still, Amy can catch Jake's dreamy beam as he speaks so highly of her to their daughter. He's pacing around the room and bouncing Ana in hopes to lull her back to sleep with his movements and stories. It doesn't seem to work though, as she's still looking at him with her eyes wide open and wide awake.

Her tiny little hand is curled around the hem of his hoodie.

"You're really not gonna go back to sleep, uh?" He seems to think the same as Amy does. "Okay, I have an idea. What do you say we send her a good luck selfie? I'm sure she's already awake and working on her presentation and it could be a good distraction for her," Jake suddenly reaches for his phone in his pocket. He carefully holds the baby with one hand while he unlocks the device with the other. Amy watches him do from her own screen, letting out a small chuckle at the scene.

He knows her so well.

"For Mama!" he says then shoots a huge grin at the camera for a second. He takes a beat to look at it – Amy can tell from the look on his face Jake's satisfied with it. "Look how pretty we are!" He shows it to Ana and kisses her on top of her head with enthusiasm. The baby squeals in his arms.

It's utterly adorable.

Both of them are.

And she's sure they _are_ beautiful in the picture indeed.

(She can't wait to receive it, even though she saw them take it 'live.')

Amy could keep watching them for hours but unfortunately, Jake talking about it reminded her she has to go back to work. The quicker she's done with her presentation, the sooner she'll be by their sides, she tries to tell herself as she unwillingly turns off the monitor on her phone and goes back to her PowerPoint. It doesn't take long before she's distracted again though, when she receives a text. A smile forms on her face before she even glances at her phone – she doesn't need to look to know who it is, and what it is about.

 _Jake Peralta:_

 _We miss you. Can't wait to see you tonight. You're gonna ace this presentation xx_

She reads the message accompanying the (really cute indeed) picture with her heart full of love. For sure she can't wait to see them later as well.

 _Thanks, babe,_ she writes back. _I miss you guys too. So much._

 _(And for the record, I think you're an amazing Detective too.)_


	136. Love, You're not Alone

The only light coming from Jake's room at such a late hour in the night is that of his phone, shining in the dark. It makes his face glow; his eyes are stuck on the screen of the device, staring at the name written on it. _Amy Santiago_.

His thumb is hovering over her contact info, contemplating sending her a text. He didn't spend as much time with her tonight as he would have liked, between the two parties and the fact that she was already asleep when he came back from his conversation with Holt and the one true party could finally begin.

 _6-drink Amy is so alone._

He remembers her words from when she joined them down the other room, looking all sad and desperate (and oh so drunk as well). The simple thought of that moment hurts. He wishes he would have been there for her back then, but unfortunately he had someone else he needed to try and make feel better too.

He _was_ there when Terry carried her to her bed when everyone started to go to sleep, not so long ago. No matter how gently the Sarge took her out of the couch and brought her to her room to rest, she still woke up as he laid her down on the mattress, moaning some unintelligible words and trying to hang onto him.

She didn't seem to have sobered up much nor feel less depressed.

This is why Jake has been staring at her contact picture for a while now – looking at the annoyed face she's shooting at the camera. The picture's already one year old; he took it during their "date" to immortalize his victory over her.

One year has passed, and he still cherishes this picture (and the whole night they spent back then) very dearly.

One year has passed, and he still feels the same about her.

 _He still likes her._

With a sigh, Jake eventually gives in and chooses to send her a text.

 **You okay?**

He doesn't get an answer right away. When a minute turns into two, he assumes Amy has fallen back to sleep and resigns himself to doing the same.

That's when she replies.

 **The world is spinning** , the text simply writes. It makes Jake snort, although he quickly feels bad for making fun of her.

She's gonna have one hell of a hangover tomorrow.

(She won't be alone – with all the drinks he downed during the last games the squad played together, he's pretty sure he's gonna get one as well. But hangovers are part of the fun of these yearly getaway weekends anyways.)

He starts writing down an answer but receives another from Amy before he can even send his own text. What he reads makes him stop and stare for a second.

 **And the room's too quiet. I feel alone.**

Just like earlier, his heart breaks a little at the words. He gets the sudden urge to stand up and go to her to hold her tight and never let go. He wants to tell her what he didn't have the chance to say when her sad episode first started – let her know she is _not_ alone. She'll always have him, no matter what.

He doesn't move, though. Doesn't write anything back either.

Or he does. **Want me to come over?** But he's not sure he should send it.

He does it anyways, after a while – he'd feel bad for not helping out a friend in need otherwise. He receives another text at the exact same time he sends his.

 **Could you come over?**

It makes him smile.

 **On my way. I'll bring some water :)** he quickly writes back then hurries out of the bed. His head hurts a little when he does so – Amy's world is not the only one spinning anymore. Fortunately, this moment of dizziness doesn't last long and he quietly heads down to the kitchen to grab two glasses of cold water.

Only then does he go to Amy's room. The door's not fully closed – he remembers well how she insisted they leave it this way. He doesn't wait to knock – two small taps – and soon after a quiet voice invites him to come in.

"Hi." Jake brings in some light as he enters; it allows him to make out Amy's silhouette curled up on the bed with her eyes on him. A smile immediately forms on her face when their gazes meet.

He smiles back at her as he approaches her side. "Hey. I brought you some water. Should help with the whole 'the world's spinning' thing," he teases her.

"Thanks." Amy grabs the glass and immediately starts downing it in one gulp.

Jake remains still in front of her as she does so, watching her awkwardly. He doesn't really know what to do or say next. He studies Amy's silhouette on the bed, how tiny she looks all curled up on one side of the huge mattress. Even though she does seem better than she was a few hours ago, she still looks like she could break any time – it makes Jake want to go to her and wrap his arms around her body to remind her she is _not_ alone.

Again though, he doesn't know if he should do this.

Fortunately, Amy's the one to put an end to his dilemma.

"Could you… could you lie with me for a bit?" she asks shyly, looking at him with sad puppy eyes. Of course Jake can't do anything else but agree to her request.

Her eyes literally light up when he nods as he takes another step in her direction. She pushes herself to the side to leave him some space, throwing the covers away so that he can tuck himself in with her. He barely has the time to get all settled that she's got her arms around his body, keeping him close with his back on her and her face nuzzled in the crook of his neck.

"I know you like to be the little spoon," she says it so casually, it makes Jake startle a little. He doesn't remember telling her that.

There are a lot of things he knows about her too, though, after all these years of partnership – he shouldn't be surprised she knows such things about him then.

He tries to relax in her embrace as much as she seems to do, absentmindedly stroking her arms. He can't help but think about how is heart keeps beating faster though, and how he wishes she can't feel it against her palms.

If she does, she doesn't make any comment about it.

"Feeling better?" he eventually asks.

"Mmhmm," Amy hums in contentment, eyes already shut again.

She does seem more at ease indeed. It makes Jake wish they could remain like this, wrapped up in each other in an intimate embrace, forever.

Unfortunately, a new rush of sadness seems to hit her all of a sudden.

"You think I'm gonna end up alone?" Her voice is so low, barely above a whisper, Jake almost doesn't hear the question.

But he does – and again, his heart misses a beat at the desperation in her tone. He instinctively holds her closer before he turns around to meet her eyes.

"Of course you're not." He's quick to reassure her. "Ames, you're the best person I know. You're so smart and funny, and you're beautiful too. Anyone would be lucky to date you."

 _I would be so lucky to date you,_ he thinks but doesn't say – this is not about him. And she doesn't like him like _that_ anymore, anyways.

He sees her avert her gaze as she lets out a sigh, staying silent for a few seconds. "I don't want 'anyone' to date me, though." She eventually speaks again. "And I think I blew up my chances with the one person that matters."

Jake frowns.

"What do you mean?"

"I wish I wasn't with Teddy when you made your big speech about liking me. Your big _speeches_ , even," she blurts it all out while staring deep at him.

Jake has to take a moment for the words to sink into his brain. And even after that, he remains speechless for a while.

Could he be wrong about her not having feelings for him anymore?! It seems like it, if he's to believe her revelation. And it's quite shocking, to be honest.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what I'm saying. 6-drink Amy sucks," Amy whines when he takes too long to answer.

"No no no. Don't apologize." Jake is quick to find his voice again, then. "6-drink Amy is just as amazing as the other Amys. And I like her – every version of you, to be honest – a lot. I think I never truly stopped, if I'm being honest."

"You do?" Amy looks surprised as she watches him with her eyes shining bright in the dark of the room. She doesn't sound desperate anymore – it's quite the opposite, even. She seems _hopeful_.

Jake smiles softly at her. He replaces a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah. As I said, anyone would be lucky to date you."

"Even you?"

"Especially me." His smile turns into a grin, an expression soon matched on Amy's face. Then, to further emphasize his words, he leans towards her and presses a tender kiss on her lips. Their conversation might have completely sobered him up, he still worries all of this is just a drunken hallucination he's having – the taste of her lips against his feel very real (and good), though.

Amy's still smiling when he draws away, not an ounce of sadness noticeable in her expression anymore. She does let out a yawn despite how hard she tries to keep it in, and that's how they agree they should talk more and figure things out what all of this means in the morning; when they're awake and completely sober.

Jake acts as if he's going to leave the bed then, but Amy stops him before he can take one foot out of the covers.

"Stay… please?" she pleads.

"Okay." He doesn't need much convincing to settle back against her, this time lying face-to-face. He wishes her goodnight with a kiss on the top of her head; it doesn't take long for her to completely fall asleep after that, secured in his arms. He watches her for a while with an awestruck smile on his face that doesn't want to go away – this is definitely not the turn he imagined this night taking, but he's definitely thankful for it. He quickly closes his eyes and lets slumber take him in too, lulled by her even breathing against him.

(Sad, alone Amy never makes her comeback ever again after that night.)


	137. Of Look-Alikes and Baby Talks

**Of Look-Alikes and Baby Talks (And a Concert)**

"You've got to admit there's something there. You guys look just the same!"

For the umpteenth time that night – and even before that day – Charles gets closer to Jake so that he can hear him through the loud music of the concert playing in front of them. It's a gift he offered him for his birthday; two tickets for a live show of The Lonely Island in Brooklyn, for him and Amy to go on a 'double-date' with the Boyle-Mirren-Carter couple. Jake has been a fan of the comedians for a while now and introduced them to Charles a few months ago.

He quickly regretted it though, because ever since that day, Charles hasn't stopped insisting he and one of the members of the band – Jorma Taccone's the name – look just the same.

Which isn't true, according to Jake (and pretty much everyone else in the squad when the other detective tried to seek other people's approval).

"We have _nothing_ in common, Charles!" he denies once again.

He doesn't bother looking at his best friend as he speaks, eyes stuck on the scene where the three artists are currently singing one of their hit songs, _The Creep_. Now more than ever, as he gets to see him with his own eyes, he's sure the two of them are completely different.

"Well, I didn't see it either but now…" Amy trails off in a teasing tone. It makes Jake turn his attention towards her – _how dare his own wife betray him?!_ She lets out a small chuckle. "In this outfit, he kinda reminds me of you when you dressed up as a pervert with Kevin," she mocks and he gasps.

When he glances at the stage, Jake can see the three men behind The Lonely Island band standing still and smiling creepily at the crowd as the song just came to an end. He still can't see any resemblance between the two of them, even when wearing his own disguise and weird mustache.

He wants to argue but before he can muster a single word, as if on cue, Jorma starts talking. It cuts Jake short in his will to defend himself.

"Alright, you guys know what time it is. Get your hands in the sky, everybody! Who wants a T-shirt?"

Previous conversations are suddenly forgotten as the three colleagues and Genevieve put their hands up as an attempt to grab one of the T-shirts thrown at them. It doesn't take them long to get caught up in the little game.

"Ah-ha! I got one and not you!" It's Jake's turn to tease Amy with a huge grin and daring look on his face when he grabs a T-shirt almost immediately while she doesn't.

She simply shakes her head in return.

"Just a quick disclaimer on the T-shirts, you guys: there was a bit of an issue with the printer, so these are all blank," the artists warn.

It makes Amy laugh. "Wow, what an amazing gift you grabbed, babe."

"You're saying that because you're jealous." He holds tighter onto the piece of clothing. No matter what, he's still pretty proud of himself for this 'prize' he won.

"There's a little bit of a sizing issue as well: if you catch a T-shirt, it's either gonna be a quadruple extra-large or a baby onesie."

This time, it's Charles who reacts to the words. Indeed, it's all it takes for him to forget about the game and turn his full attention to his best friend. He stares deeply at the small white T-shirt folded inside Jake's arms. It makes him frown in confusion.

"Which one did you get?!" Charles asks. There's a hopeful glow shining inside his eyes that's visible even in the dark of the room.

"Uh… A baby onesie, I guess." Jake shrugs – it's too small to be anything else. He doesn't really get why the other man is acting so weird, though. Especially when he squeals at his answer.

"You know what they say. Whoever grabs a onesie, gets a baby within the year…" He gives Jake and Amy a knowing look.

"Nobody says that," Jake is quick to correct him.

For once though, he doesn't feel as annoyed as he might have been in the past every time Charles implied he and his wife should have children. To be honest, it's quite the opposite – as he lets his eyes wander onto the small piece of clothing, a dreamy smile comes curving up the corners of his mouth.

His smile only grows bigger and fonder when she looks at Amy. Some kind of understanding passes between the two of them.

They've been talking about babies a lot, lately – ever since they first mentioned it during their 'casecation.' Even more so after Amy made him believe she was pregnant during their annual heist and his heart literally exploded with happiness before he learned this was just a ruse. He realized then he might have been more ready to be a father than he previously thought he was.

They're still not actively trying yet, though. They're doing this step by step, planning things first. It's an actually very exciting process, which helps Jake relax a little more every time the baby topic comes up between him and his wife. The more it goes, the more ready to welcome a third member inside their little family he feels.

So yes, learning she's pregnant before the end of the year sounds like something truly appealing to him – to the both of them, if he's to trust the expression on Amy's face as they keep looking at each other.

They don't tell Charles, though. They're too afraid he might faint right there in the middle of the theater if they do. But for once, they hope he and his made-up phrases are right.

(Which turns out they are, in the end, as Amy _does_ get pregnant before the end of the year after the both of them decide it's time to try for good once they're home from the concert and put away the little onesie Jake won.)


	138. Starry Nights and Bright Sunflowers

Amy knows about the rules.

She knows about them, because _she_ came up with the idea. They're all written down in her notebook, listed one point after another in her perfect handwriting.

 _Rule #1: No display of affection in front of Sarah._

 _Rule #2: No telling anyone we're dating._

 _Rule #3: No sleepovers (nor simple visits during the night) at Jake's when Sarah's here._

She knows all about them, and would usually follow them without fault but right now, she has to make an exception. They already broke one earlier anyway, when the whole squad finally found out about their relationship. Amy's been sitting on her couch, freaking out about Holt being gone and the whole squad finally learning about Jake and her and what her new Captain will be like for an hour now and hasn't been able to relax since.

 _What if the new person in charge is just like her old mentor?_ Years later, she still has nightmares about that time.

So Amy knows about the rules, but she also knows she won't calm down unless she has someone to talk to about all of this. Unless she talks to _Jake_. He truly is the only person she wants to vent about her fears with. As she forces herself up and leaves her apartment, she hopes he'll understand why she's breaking another rule tonight.

Her knock is weak against the front door, barely resonating on the other side. It's past Jake's daughter's curfew; at least Amy made sure of that. She doesn't want to wake her up by making too much noise, then. She doesn't want to cause any more trouble or have to find an excuse as to why she's here so late in the evening to the little girl.

Sarah Peralta might be young, but she's also very smart and curious – just like her father. Amy's very fond of her.

(Just like she is of her father too.)

"Ames, what are–…" Jake looks startled, frowning when he opens the door and their gazes meet.

"I'm sorry!" Amy doesn't let him finish his sentence as she apologizes to him. "I'm sorry."

His frown deepens, although he doesn't say anything. He waits for her to go on.

Amy takes a deep breath. "I know I shouldn't be here, but I was home, and I couldn't stop thinking about everything that happened today, and–…" She stops. She can feel her eyes watering a little.

Jake must see it too, because one moment he's standing in bewilderment in front of her and the next, he's pulling her into a tight hug, gently stroking her back and murmuring small whispers into her ear. "Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm here." Then he's the one who offers when they part. "Wanna come in?"

His words make Amy relax, if only for a moment. She nods, the tears in her eyes having fallen down and now wetting her cheeks. She quietly follows him inside. He makes her sit on the couch but doesn't join her just yet – first, he goes to the kitchen to make her a cup of hot chocolate with extra whipped cream and little marshmallows.

"Usually works with Sarah when she's sad," he says as he hands her the cup and finally settles down. She offers him a shy smile in return. She takes a sip of the beverage, its warmth and overly sweet taste burning her tongue and taking over her whole body. She can feel Jake's gaze on her, waiting for her to speak again. He wraps his arm around her shoulders and she cuddles against his side.

She feels a little safer, there.

Then she starts talking. Tells him all about her worries. She doesn't tell him _why_ it matters so much to her who their next Captain will be, though. It's too soon. Other than that, she spills everything out. Once she's getting starting, she can't seem to stop sharing all of her spiralling thoughts out loud.

Amy wishes she could say being with Jake completely calms her down, like she first believed it would. The painful truth is that although it does make her feel better, she still finds herself unconsciously braiding her hair while she talks as a mechanical response to the high level of panic she's currently experiencing.

Jake doesn't make any comment about it, though. Actually, he does everything he can to help her relax, if only just a bit. She's truly grateful for it and his presence by her side.

It's always better than being left alone with her thoughts at home.

( _Everything_ 's better when she's with him, anyway. Because truth to be told, _he_ is her home.)

She's braided half of her hair already when small steps resonating on the hard floor stops her in her tracks and makes them both look behind them. There they find Sarah, one thumb in her mouth and her other arm carrying a stuffed shark almost her size standing in front of them. Amy can feel Jake's body suddenly drawing away from her as he instinctively jerks away and tries to look casual.

"Sarah! What did we say about getting up in the middle of the night, uh?" He scratches the back of his neck as he tries to take a reprimanding voice. Amy knows it means he's nervous.

 _Great,_ she can't help but beat herself up. She messed up. She knew the rule. _Why didn't she follow the rule?_

"'Heard you talking," the child answers with her thumb still in her mouth. She takes a few steps closer. "Why's Amy's hair so funny?" She finally takes it out to point at the woman. If she's confused by Amy's presence in her house at such a late hour in the evening, she doesn't let it show. She seems more interested in her weird hairstyle than anything else right now.

"I, uh–…" Amy shoots a glance at Jake, seeking his help.

"She was showing me how to make better braids." He shrugs at her, as if to say _what, it's all I could come up with on the spot!_ "Do you like it?" His voice is soft as he talks to his daughter.

She knows he doubts about his abilities a lot, and that it hasn't always been easy to raise her alone, especially with his own childhood background, but Jake truly is an amazing dad.

(Plus, he's never truly been alone. The squad's always had his back. _She_ 's always had his back, even long before they started dating.)

For a second, the apartment fills with silence as Sarah pauses to think. Her whole face lights up after a short while though, as she enthusiastically nods and gets even closer to the pair.

"YES!" she exclaims. "Can you braid my hair too, please?" she then asks when she's finally standing in front of them on the couch.

Once again, Amy glances at Jake, mouth half-open and not knowing what to say. This decision is not for her to make.

"Sarah, it's late…" her father cautiously trails off. The girl's eyes instantly fill up with upcoming tears. "You should be sleeping now."

"But I wanna stay with Amy!" she complains, fully crying now.

Jake lets out a sigh. Amy can't help but think this is all her fault. He turns around to look at her, silently asking for her permission to agree to the child's request.

Amy obviously agrees – after all, _she_ created this mess. Plus this could be a good distraction and help her relax for good.

"Okay," Jave gives in, then. "But only one, and after it's back to your room, promise?"

"Promise," Sarah swears as she doesn't waste any time to make herself comfortable next to Amy, her back resting against the woman.

The little girl's hair is just like her father's. It's fluffy and soft against her fingers, just like Jake's is when he rests his head against her stomach as they lie down on her bed (or his) and she gently strokes it. Her long dark curls are also just as messy as his after a night (or just a few hours, in this case) of sleep, going all over the place at the top of her head.

Amy takes her time to comb it first, slowly and gently so as not to hurt Sarah with her fingers going through her hair. She's focused on her task, eyes stuck on the little girl but she can still feel Jake's gaze lingering on them, silently watching her do. As opposed to the numerous tiny braids framing her own face, Amy opts for one big braid to tie all of Sarah's mass of curls at once.

She's been braiding her hair in panic for as long as she can remember; she became quite of an expert in the matter over time then, and it takes her less than two minutes to tie Jake's daughter's hair in a perfect braid. When she shows the result to the little girl, Sarah shoots her the biggest grin before throwing herself into Amy's arms as a thank you.

It takes her a little off guard – sure, the two are close (they hit it off pretty much from their first encounter, to be honest) but it's not often the child expresses her affection like that. When she catches Jake's eyes, Amy can see him remove a happy tear. She can herself feel her heart melt in her chest as she wraps an arm around Sarah's little body to bring her closer.

This is when she realizes the crushing pain she was still feeling there only a few moments ago is now completely gone. She feels serene.

Joyful, even. All thanks to Sarah.

"Can I tell you a secret?" the child tries to whisper as she throws herself away from Amy and looks up at her. Amy nods, a fond yet amused smile spreading on her face. She bends down so that the girl can bring her mouth to her ear, hiding it with her small hand so that her father can't read her lips.

"Your braids are more beautiful than Daddy's," she says and even though she wants to be discreet, it's still loud enough for him to hear it.

It makes Amy laugh, the competitive side of her feeling thrilled while Jake lets out a dramatic gasp in fake-shock. She laughs a little harder.

The panic is completely gone indeed.

"Well, I'm happy you think so." She shoots her a small smile as she replaces a loose strand of hair behind the child's ear.

A comfortable silence takes over the room after that, until Sarah breaks it again.

"Why are you here?" The words are said out of the blue. Jake and Amy clearly weren't expecting such a question anymore – they stare blankly at each other, not knowing what to answer to that.

The moment of bliss is gone, as Amy can feel the panic quickly creep back up.

"Amy was… She had a question about work!" Jake finds a (poor) excuse.

"Yep. Work," she backs him up. "That's why I'm here. And your father helped me so I can go back to my own apartment now."

She stands up. Jake soon follows, taking his daughter in his arms as he does so.

"And you, young lady, are going back to bed. You stayed awake long enough already." As if on cue, Sarah lets out a yawn. Amy acts like she's going to leave, but the child stops her before she can take one step towards the door.

"Can Amy come with us to say goodnight?" She looks at her father with the same puppy eyes he himself uses on Amy sometimes when he wants something from her. It's irresistible – they both know that, and surely know how to use it against people. Of course both adults have no other choice than to accept, then.

It doesn't take long for Sarah to fall asleep after Jake puts her back to bed and both he and Amy kiss her goodnight. He then accompanies the woman to the door, but none of them actually moves nor talks for a while. They're a little awestruck about the way the little girl acted around Amy the whole night.

Eventually, Jake clears his throat. "So… I think maybe it's time we break another rule." He shoots Amy a knowing smile. She who was lost in her reverie is quickly brought back to Earth. "What do you say?"

"You mean…" she trails off, unable to say another word. _Is he really suggesting letting Sarah know of their relationship?!_

If so, this would be such a huge step they're taking. One she's willing to take, obviously – they've been together long enough now for her to know she's in this for the long haul. They might not have said the words yet, Amy still knows she loves this man deeply. She has had for a while.

"Yeah." His smile grows bigger. "She loves you, Ames. It's even more obvious after tonight. I think she'll be thrilled about the news. We can take her to her favorite pancakes place for breakfast tomorrow and tell her then." He raises his eyebrows at her in understanding.

"This sounds like a great plan," Amy agrees. She then pauses, watching him straight into the eyes. The moon is shining high outside the window, surrounding him with an angelic glow. He looks beautiful.

 _Damn, she loves this man._

"I love you." The words are out before she can think of saying them out loud. She doesn't regret it, though – it's about time she lets him know. "Both of you," she adds as her eyes wander towards Sarah's now closed door. Because it's true. She loves the little girl too and really hopes she will accept her into the small Peralta family when she learns about her father and her relationship.

Amy waits, a little nervous with her heart beating fast in her chest, for Jake's reaction. His smile grows bigger again – fonder. His eyes are shining in the dark.

"I love you too." He brings her in for a kiss.

(Amy doesn't make it back to her apartment that night – but this time, she doesn't feel so bad about breaking a rule. And when they explain everything to Sarah the next day, everything is fine indeed.)


	139. I Want to Love You

**I Want to Love You (But I Don't Know if I Can)**

"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be off today?"

Jake frowns as he steps into the bullpen after interrogating a perp, only to see his partner there. She's not wearing her usual pantsuits though – simply a pair of jeans and a light jacket.

"I am." Amy smiles when she meets his eyes. "I just needed to give something to Captain Holt. Why is Sarah sleeping in his office, by the way?"

A rush of guilt immediately takes over him at the mention of his daughter's name. He knows a precinct is no place for a child – but he didn't really have another choice today. "Long story short, my babysitter bailed on me, my mother couldn't take her and I was already late for work so I had to bring her here with me," he explains, sheepishly averting his gaze.

"Isn't it a little… dangerous, for her to be here?"

Jake lets out a sigh. As if he didn't know that already.

"I know. But I'll take care of this. As soon as I'm done with this case, I'll have more time to try and find someone to pick her up and take her out of here."

In front of him, he can see Amy's smile turn gentler. "Well, I'm not working today. I can take care of her, if you want."

Her words make Jake freeze, mouth half-open and unable to say something. For a brief instant, his gaze switches towards the closed doors of his superior's office, where his daughter is currently sleeping. The offer is interesting, but he's not so sure leaving her with _Amy_ , of all people, is a good idea. Not that she couldn't take care of a child – she's already proven her worth more than once in the past. Plus, he knows for a fact Sarah is very fond of her.

The problem is _him_. Him, and his stupid feelings towards her colleague he's trying so hard to let go of.

Him, and the realization that came to his mind not so long ago – and yet too late, as she'd just started seeing some other cop: he likes her. As in, he wishes something could happen between them.

 _Romantic-stylez._

"Nah, it's okay. I don't want to bother you with that. I'm sure the Santiago schedule is already full today. I know how you wouldn't waste a day off," he declines, then. His hand instinctively comes scratching the back of his neck in a nervous tic as he talks.

"Jake, I don't have anything planned. I was supposed to spend the day with Teddy but he's had to go back to work for an emergency. So I'd be happy to help. You know I really like Sarah."

Her smile is fond and beautiful and his heart sinks a little at the mention of her boyfriend and damn, he's _so screwed_.

"You sure?" He tries not to pay attention to the increasing beating of his heart and how it seems like it's getting hotter in the room.

Objectively, Jake knows this is the best solution he'll ever find.

"Yes." Amy takes a step closer in his direction, puts a hand on his arm for emphasis. "I'm sure."

As if on cue, before Jake can muster a single word, the doors of Holt's office open and the little girl appears. She's excitedly pulling the captain by the hand, forcing him to follow her, although quickly loses her grip on him as soon as she catches sight of her father. "Daddy!" she rushes towards him and Jake bends down to welcome her into a warm embrace before lifting her up.

"Peralta, your child has awoken," Holt says in his signature monotonous voice – his detective genuinely can't tell if he's annoyed or amused, or something else.

"Yeah, I can see that." Jake chuckles as his daughter wriggles happily inside his arms, her little hands securely wrapped around his neck. She seems very awake indeed. "But don't worry, I found a solution." He then turns to look Sarah in the eye. "Hey baby, what do you say you spend the rest of the day with Amy, uh? You're gonna have a lot of fun together!" He shoots a glance at his partner. She's watching them with a bright smile. She waves at the little girl and in his chest, his heart misses a beat.

He quickly brings his attention back to his daughter. She doesn't reply right away – carefully studies the woman's face for a while, as if she was judging a stranger.

(Amy is no stranger. She's been there every step of the way, from the moment the little girl's mother left him in charge of her. She's been there for her, and she's been there for _him_.)

"Can we get pancakes?" Sarah eventually asks. It makes Jake laugh – the girl just _loves_ her pancakes. He catches Amy's questioning gaze, in search of his approval before she says anything.

He nods at her. Getting some pancakes won't harm her. And she deserves them, after being so good and calm in such an inconvenient situation.

"Sure," she agrees, then. "Actually, I know the best place for pancakes." Her smile grows bigger, playful even.

The little girl makes the cutest little squeal in response to that. When she looks back to her father, her eyes are shining with excitement. It's all it takes to warm up his entire being.

"You coming with us, Daddy?" She seems hopeful.

Jake wishes he could tell her yes. He wishes he could go. There's truly nothing he'd rather do than eating pancakes with his daughter and Amy – his favorite girl and the woman he likes. Unfortunately, he has a job to do. Some criminals to catch. He doesn't think Captain Holt would be pleased with him ditching his duty for an afternoon of fun with his child and partner.

He presses a soft kiss into Sarah's hair before answering. "Sorry sweetheart, Daddy has to work. But I'll see you later, okay? Be nice with Amy, and do as she says."

The little girl pouts – she's clearly disappointed – but still nods. He lets her down then and leaves her to Amy's care.

"Don't worry," she says as she grabs his daughter's hand to lead her out. "I'll take good care of her." She smiles, an expression that soon reciprocates on his own features.

Jake's not worried at all. He knows without a doubt she will. Amy is his partner, after all – every day on the field he trusts her with his life. There's nowhere safer for Sarah to be than by her side, then.

After one last goodbye kiss to his daughter, the pair leaves the precinct hand-in-hand. Jake watches them go; his heart is aching with longing for something that will never be.

"Jake and Sarah and Amy make three!" Charles' teasing voice takes him out of his reverie after the elevator's doors close in front of Amy and Sarah happily waving at him.

"Back off, Charles!" he lets out an annoyed grunt, shooting his best friend a dark glare.

Inside though, as he doesn't move from his spot in the middle of the bullpen just yet, he can't help but wish it was true.

He's out on the field when he receives a text from Amy, some picture of her and Sarah enjoying their pancakes. His heart instantly melts at the sight of their huge grins and shining eyes.

(He also can't help but laugh at the little girl, whose mouth is covered in chocolate and has a very visible stain on her T-shirt despite the napkin Amy made sure to wrap around her neck. She _is_ his daughter indeed.)

He keeps staring at it on the way back to the precinct while Rosa drives silently, and decides it's time to change his partner's contact photo – one he took during their post-bet 'date,' of her shooting a very annoyed face at the camera – and replace it with this new one. He wants to cherish this image forever.

(He's never been more screwed.)

Amy and Sarah are back from their little day of fun just as Jake's shift ends. The child barely waits for the elevator's doors to fully open to run towards her father.

"Daddy! I missed you!" She buries herself into his wide open arms and he holds her tight.

"I missed you too." He presses a soft kiss against her temple. "How was your day?" He draws a little away from her to better look at her. She's literally glowing.

"IT WAS THE BESTEST!" she excitedly exclaims. "We had pancakes and we went to the park and Amy bought me a book!"

"A book?" A chuckle escapes Jake's mouth as he looks up at his partner with a questioning gaze. As the amazing storyteller he is (not to brag, but he's made up the lives of many personas throughout his years as a detective), he often uses his own imagination – and a few movie references – rather than already existing books to tell Sarah stories before bed. And she seems to love it this way.

"I took her to the bookstore with me because I had a book to pick there and she said she wanted one too," Amy explains. Jake could swear a new spark lights up in her eyes as she recalls the story. "So I bought her one. I think you'll both like it. It was my favorite book as a child." She smiles and for some reason, the gesture touches him deeply. So much that he has to fight back a few tears.

He silently holds her gaze for a beat, drowning into her eyes. He can tell she truly cares about Sarah, and nothing warms up his heart more than this fact.

Raising a child alone isn't always easy – especially with his own baggage and experiences. But in times like these, Jake realizes he is not (and has never been) alone. The whole squad has been – will _always_ be – there for him, and thus from the start.

Amy more than others.

And god, he's so grateful for that.

"Thank you." He has to clear his throat to regain some composure before answering her. She simply nods in return, the way she watches him softer than ever. He pines. _Hard._

"Do you, uh–… do you want to have dinner with us tonight? To thank you for taking care of Sarah," he quickly adds when he sees her frown at his question and her smile falters a little.

"Oh. That's nice, but… I have plans with Teddy tonight, I'm sorry. Maybe another time?" she gives him an apologetic look that makes his heart sink in his chest.

For a minute there, he'd forgotten about Teddy. Her actual _boyfriend_.

"Oh yeah, sure." His hand is back on his neck, nervously scratching there. An awkward silence falls between them for a second, soon interrupted by Sarah.

She impatiently starts pulling at her father's sleeve.

"Can we go now, Daddy?"

Jake puts his whole attention on her. "Yes, we'll go now, sweetheart." He takes her hand in his after gathering all his stuff and starts heading towards the exit. He stops in front of Amy, though.

"Thank you again for everything and have a good date. See you on Monday?"

"Yes. Bye, Sarah," she bends down to kiss the little girl on the cheek, who kisses her back. Then, when she stands up again, before he can take another step, she stops Jake in his tracks. "And Jake, don't worry about me helping you out. You know you can count on me whenever you need it with Sarah, right? And not only with her." She stares at him. It's hard to keep his eyes on her while she looks at him so deeply.

He still manages a small smile. "I know."

Then walks towards the elevator and lets out a sigh, unable to take off his mind the thought that he missed out on something great by not telling her how he feels when he still had the chance.

 _You want to know why she went out with him and not you? Because he actually asked her out._ There's a bittersweetness to Charles' words from a few weeks ago as they repeat themselves inside his mind.

(Maybe some day, he secretly wishes, he'll get that chance again and be able to ask her out himself. _Maybe…_ )


	140. I Don't Need no Other

**I Found a Mirror for my Soul (I Don't Need no Other)**

He can sense from the moment she wraps her arms around his body that something's off.

There's something about the way she holds onto him – tighter than usual, with her head buried in the crook of his neck in complete silence – that doesn't feel right, even with this poor situation they're stuck in. He might not be her soulmate, but Jake knows Amy better than anyone else still. Or at least he thinks (and hopes) so.

At first, he guesses it has to do with his and Rosa's case. Did the squad reach a dead end, received more bad news?

But then he sees it. It should have crossed his mind before – after all, even for someone like Amy, wearing a long-sleeves blouse __and__ a jacket inside (especially when it's so hot outside) is too much. It's not when you want to hide something that's on your arm, though. He should have paid more attention to the hand she oddly kept under the table on her lap too.

She must forget about it for a moment, distraught by the desperation in his voice he tries (and apparently fails) to hide behind a forced laugh as she grabs his hand with hers and squeezes softly in a gesture that's supposed to be reassuring. When she realizes her sleeve has rolled up a little, showing the skin of her wrist and tries to cover it again, it's already too late. Jake's seen it.

He's caught sight of the glowing "S" printed there.

"S" as in, __Soulmate__.

Amy finally found hers – and, obviously, it's not him. This is no news, though. They knew that from the beginning. Her soulmark didn't start glowing when they first met all these years ago – and anyways, Jake doesn't have any anywhere on his own body to match hers. Only children of soulmates get one.

His parents weren't.

Still, they decided to give their story a chance. It's not like Amy was a big fan of soulmates, she told him back then – she really didn't like having someone arbitrary decide who she should fall in love with. She was a grown woman, capable of making her own decisions. But what about now that she got to __meet__ them?! Maybe she changed her mind. Maybe they __are__ perfect for her indeed.

Her better half. Better than Jake.

 _"_ _ _Jake…"__ Her voice is soft when she calls his name, almost pleading even. It takes him out of his spiralling thoughts. He forces his gaze away from the mark to look at her.

He's silent for a moment as he stares at her. He can see she's waiting for him to say something – __anything__. The atmosphere is heavy and awkward between them, he can feel it, and he hates it. It's something that hasn't happened for a while and he didn't miss it. She seems to be hurting as much as he does, and he hates __that__ too – to see her like that.

"I bet he can grow a full beard, huh?" he eventually jokes. It's the only way he knows how to deal with this new piece of information he just found out. __Amy met her soulmate.__

His future was already uncertain, what with being locked up in this hell of a place but right now, it seems even more doomed than before. Like there's no escape. Even if he gets out.

He can't begin to imagine a life without Amy by his side.

"I… don't know," she genuinely – though shockingly – answers. "I don't know anything about him. I didn't talk to him." Jake is startled by her words, to say the least, but somehow he believes her.

"You didn't?" he stills asks. Believing doesn't mean he understands. And even though he should be relieved, this revelation doesn't quite help soothe the pain.

"No. I didn't even realize right away my wrist was burning and glowing. I was too lost in my thoughts thinking about a way to free you out. __You.__ The one person I love." She shoots him a knowing look as she lets out the last words and offers him a small smile. She brings her hand back onto his and squeezes again.

His body relaxes with her touch, if only for a slight moment.

Because all of a sudden, the hurtful thought occurs to him. It makes his heart ache as he unwillingly takes his hand away from her. The smile she managed to bring to his face fades, replaced with a worried expression. "Wait. Does this mean you missed your chance at knowing who he is?"

"I guess so." Amy shrugs, as if this is no big deal. It is for Jake. "It's not like I needed to anyway."

"You don't know that…" Jake lets out a desperate sigh.

"What is this supposed to mean?!" He sees the crease between her brow deepen; he sees the pain flashing inside her eyes.

He hates himself a little more for being the one inflicting her that.

The words are hard to let out, but he has to say them. "Ames, I might be locked in here for __fifteen__ _years_. What if meeting him now was a sign? What if it was your chance at starting over with the one person you've always been supposed to be and not having to watch your life pass you by as you wait for someone who's not worth it?" he snaps. The words taste like poison in his mouth.

A beat passes – it feels like an eternity.

"You're joking, right?!" There's anger in Amy's gaze now as he eventually finds the guts to look at her. "Jake, I haven't slept in three weeks because I've been worrying about you all the time. I _need_ you in my life. Not some guy the universe somehow decided to pair me with."

She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes for a second. Her features are softer when she opens them again.

"I meant what I said before they took you away. I'll wait for you. And I'll fight for you. I won't stop until you're back home, soulmate or no soulmate," she says – more like __promises__ – in a tender voice.

This time, Jake's heart fully warms up, somehow hopeful. He opens his mouth but he doesn't get the chance to speak. A warden comes by at the same moment.

She beats him at it.

"Time's up," she informs in a threatening voice, barely watching him. "Time to get back to your cell." Her eyes are filled with disgust for the rogue cop she thinks he is. If only she knew the truth.

(He wonders how many times he gave a perp a severe, judging glare himself, and how many times it was actually an innocent he was putting behind bars.)

The pressure of Amy's hand on his brings him back to reality. They exchange one last knowing look before they're both forced to stand up and go separate ways.

"I'll be back in three weeks," she tells him. Jake only nods in silence.

* * *

When Amy doesn't show up three weeks later, Jake starts imagining the worst. He's pretty sure she managed to find her soulmate finally (given how good a detective she is, it wouldn't take her long to get a name or an address) and changed her mind about him. She probably realized she was wrong all along and the universe __did__ pair them up for a reason.

Sitting on his tiny prison bed, eyes stuck on the pictures of her – and __them__ – on the wall, he starts picturing her with her full-bearded soulmate and a happy smile showing on both their faces. They're probably heading to the stationery store near the apartment on her day off, walking hand-in-hand as they gush about new binder smell.

Yep, she's most likely better off without him. She can probably sleep again at night, wrapped up in the Bearded Man's arms.

Jake's never felt too threatened by Amy's soulmate before. He knew her opinion on the topic from the start, and knew she wasn't going to search for them. That if she were to cross his path somehow, she would kindly let him in on the situation. __If he's my true soulmate, he'll understand and feel the same about it__ _,_ she used to say.

He cared so little about the fact he wasn't her soulmate even, he'd started to plan to ask her to __marry him__ before the whole jail fiasco happened. She's the love of his life and he didn't need a glowing mark on his wrist to prove him so. The way she made – still __makes__ – him feel was enough proof of that.

Sure, he had this example of his parents, who also believed they knew better than the universe only to end up in a broken marriage. But they weren't the only non-soulmates who still tried to make a life together – and most of them ended up just fine. More recently, he even got the example of two soulmates not being as compatible as they were supposed to, when Rosa broke up with Pimento.

She's found love in Gina since then, and seems a lot happier with the woman than she ever appeared to be with the other cop. So why shouldn't it be the case for him and Amy too?

Right now though, all he can think about is that he might have been a fool for believing in all this crap. You don't play with the universe's rules. __Rules are made to be followed,__ Amy would say.

And yet she broke one (several even) by engaging in a relationship with him. That was before she met her soulmate, though. She must have come back to her senses now.

This must be why she didn't show up today. Jake can't think of any other explanation.

(The thought that she might be out there, fighting for __him__ , doesn't even occur to him once. He's too lost in his self-depreciation for that. That's what being wrongfully imprisoned does to you, after a while of being locked away – it takes away all the hopes you might once have had.)

He knows he told her, on her last visit, that she shouldn't have left her chance with her soulmate pass by. And really, he's not mad at her for following his advice and giving the man a chance at all. She deserves to be happy and have a real life of her own, a life that isn't filled with sleepless nights and constant worry for her boyfriend-who's-not-even-her-soulmate.

He's just sad, because now the one thing that actually helped him go through his days is lost. Now, he doesn't have any awesome proposal to plan. He doesn't have this __one__ secret to think about all day long instead of wallowing in his misery. He doesn't have __her__ to keep him together.

Slowly, Jake takes out the small piece of paper securely hidden under his pillow and lets out a sigh as he reads his little scribbles.

 _ _Jake's amazing proposal plan to Amy Santiago,__ it reads. He won't need it now. Or ever, for that matter.

Because she found her soulmate. And it's probably __his__ ring she'll soon be wearing on her left finger.

(At least if he stays locked up in here, he thinks, he won't be there to have to witness their love blossoming.)

* * *

The moon is shining high in the dark sky by the time Amy finally gets home. She lets herself fall on the couch with a sigh, a well-deserved cup of hot chocolate she bought from her favorite Polish place in hand. She looks around the empty, quiet place as she takes a sip of the beverage. It might have been a few weeks now but this deafening silence and extreme tidiness she gets to come home to doesn't get more familiar with time. If anything, it only gets more suffocating.

She wishes Jake was here, filling the place with his endless stories and pieces of clothing lying around the house. It used to annoy her. Now she'd give everything to have it – and __him__ – back.

She was supposed to see him, today. She's been waiting for it ever since she had to leave him three weeks ago – even more so after the way they had to leave things, with him figuring out she finally found her soulmate. It's not like she wasn't going to tell him – of course she was going to tell him, especially since there was nothing to hide. She just didn't want him to find out like __that__.

A new lead came for his and Rosa's case, though, and she thought this couldn't wait. If the lead turned out to be useful, she could get to see him soon without having a clock literally ticking over their heads. One hour – that's all the time they had for each visit. It's better than what they had to go through when he was away in Florida, and yet in a sense it's worse.

She couldn't let the chance pass by, then. She believes he'll understand when she explains herself to him next time.

Unfortunately, the lead turned out to be another dead end and now she has to wait for at least another full week before seeing his face again. Which sucks. Because she misses him.

A little more each day.

Amy puts her cup on the table in front of her and stands up to change into more comfortable clothes. She heads towards one of his drawers first, the one where he leaves his hoodies to pick one. She already almost worn them all out. It's silly, but wearing his clothes actually makes her feel like he's here with her – with his arms wrapped around her body and his recognizable scent overwhelming her.

As she grabs the hoodie to take it out, she notices a little box hidden under it. She doesn't remember seeing it before. She frowns as she leaves the hoodie to grab it instead.

She doesn't need to actually open it to understand what's inside the box. Even someone who's not a detective could easily guess. She still opens it, her curiosity stronger than the voice inside her head telling her she shouldn't do it and just put it back where she found it. Where it truly __belongs__.

Knowing what awaits her doesn't stop her heart from missing a beat when she comes face-to-face with the little ring – it's simple but __oh so__ beautiful. The small diamond on top is shining bright in the dark of her (of __their__ ) room. Its glow comes clashing with the one coming from her wrist and for a moment, Amy's gaze goes from the little piece of jewellery to the mark on her arm.

Then back to the ring again.

She knew that already, but now more than ever she's persuaded that soulmates don't matter. Only who your heart chooses does.

Because there is no way in the world someone could make her feel as full and happy as learning Jake wants to spend the rest of his life with her does.

(It's a still bittersweet feeling, though. Because he's not actually __there__ to propose. But he will be soon. She's gonna work twice as hard to make sure of that.)

* * *

Jake does come back soon indeed. Actually, he comes back before Amy gets the chance to visit him again.

He seems surprised, when he passes the doors and sees __her__ there, waiting for him with a smile and tears that start falling the second she wraps her arms around his body – for how long as they wish to this time. He seems hesitant in the way he hugs her back, too. There are bags under his eyes and disbelief shining inside of them when they part and she studies his face for a beat.

"What are you doing here?" Out of all the things she thought he might say during their reunion, Amy surely didn't expect __that__. There's no pettiness in his voice though; only genuine wonder.

And maybe that's even worse.

"You really thought I'd miss picking you up after not seeing you for weeks?"

"You didn't show up on visiting day," he says in a low, broken voice. Again, he doesn't seem mad. Just _sad_. She catches his eyes narrowing down towards her wrist and quickly pieces everything together. Her heart breaks a little at the realization and she can't help but feel guilty.

She slowly reaches for his hand and takes it in hers.

"I know… And I'm sorry for that. We got a lead for your and Rosa's case. That's why I didn't come. I thought we'd finally found a way to free you out. I couldn't miss it."

Jake eventually looks at her. Amy can still make out the insecurity inside his eyes as she shoots him a smile.

"Hey," she says softly. "I promise, I didn't search for him. I didn't think about him once, and I will __not__ search for him. Never. Especially now…" she trails off, her smile growing fonder with the thought – __especially now that I know you want to marry me__ , she doesn't say it. She doesn't want to ruin the surprise more than she already has.

Amy takes a step forward, breaking the small remaining distance between their bodies and kisses him tenderly. God, how she missed the taste of his lips on hers.

"I love you," she whispers when they part, forehead resting against forehead and eyes barely open.

"I love you too," Jake's answer is somehow shy.

* * *

Things are a little awkward at home, at first. And it's not only because of the trauma Jake went through while being wrongfully imprisoned – Amy can tell there's more to it. She can tell it has to do with her finding her soulmate as well. Even if she makes it sure every day Jake knows how this other man doesn't matter to her. _He_ 's the _only one_ who does. The only one who will ever do.

Still, he doesn't seem to get it.

"Go on. Spill it out, Santiago. You clearly need to vent." Rosa joins her at the bar with two beers in her hands one night while the whole squad is at Shaw's.

It's been more than a month since she and Jake got out of prison and not much has changed in his behavior since. He's been nowhere since proposing to her either. And even though she knows she _has_ to leave him time – and she __does__ leave him all the time and space he needs –, she can't help but miss him.

Miss what they were, before jail and soulmates happened.

She lets out a desperate sigh, talking as she stares at the beer her friend just offered. "Jake's been acting weird since he went back from prison. And I know you guys went through a lot and it will take some time for him to get past that, but I think there's more than that. I think it has to do with me finding my soulmate – it's like it broke something between us…" It surely pains her to say that.

"Who cares you found him? Soulmates are dumb," Rosa shrugs.

"I know. And I thought Jake knew too, but apparently he doesn't anymore." Amy pauses. She looks around, just to be sure there's no one listening to them. She catches sight of Jake somewhere in the distance in a conversation with Holt and Terry. He seems to feel her gaze on him as he looks back and shoots her a shy smile when their eyes meet.

Behind the pain, the pure unmitigated love and adoration are still there, she can see them – they're just waiting to shine bright again.

She puts her whole attention back on Rosa, then goes on in a whisper. "There's a ring hidden in one of his drawers. I found it while he was still in jail. He was planning on proposing to me. But I think he's hesitant to do it now." Amy recalls a few nights here and there, when she caught him shoot small glances at the drawer, then look at her and let out a desperate sigh.

It made her heart ache every time. If only he could know he doesn't have anything to worry about. If only he knew he's the love of her life too, and she'd say yes in a _heartbeat_.

Amy can swear she witnesses the slightest smile curving up the corner's of Rosa's mouth as she learns about her friends (potentially) getting married. It doesn't stay too long, though.

"Well, if you think he's holding back because he's afraid you might say no because of your soulmate, why don't you just go ahead and propose to him yourself? He'll realize he has nothing to be scared of, then, and that you mean it when you say he matters more than your soulmate."

Amy feels so stupid, suddenly. __Of course__ _._ Why didn't she think about it herself?! This is the perfect plan indeed.

"I missed you so much," she says with sincerity. Behind this apparent heart of steel hides an amazing friend always here when you need her – Amy learned that particularly while Jake was in Florida.

This time, Rosa's smile remains long enough for her to get a true glimpse of it.

"I missed you too," she acknowledges as she takes a sip of her beer.

* * *

At least when he's at work, Jake seems to have come back to being his true self again – although it took him a while for that too. He's pretty excited then, when Amy shows him the __perfect__ case for them to crack together. It took her all of two weeks and three days to make it up. Two weeks and three days to create the __perfect__ proposal plan.

She knows Jake, and not only as her girlfriend – as her __partner in crime__ for years too – so she knows which cases he likes to be assigned to the most. He puts his whole heart into it the minute it's presented to him and even though Amy made it difficult enough for him not to find it boring, it still doesn't take him long to 'crack' it.

Or at least, find a clue that leads them right she wants – __needs__ – them to be.

 _ _397, Barton Street.__

Or best known as _their_ rooftop.

"Seems like we're bound to always come back here," Amy playfully says as they get out of the car and she sees Jake look up at the building in front of them with a frown.

Inside, her heart is literally pounding.

His gaze falls down on her and he offers her a small smile. He's about to say something, although something catches his eye that makes him look up again, stopping him in his tracks.

"I think I saw someone." He nudges into the direction.

He pulls out his gun and starts rushing towards the building. Amy follows close behind. There's a smile on her face and a pang in her chest at the thought of what's next to come – at the thought of what Jake's about to find when he opens the door that leads to the top of the roof. She's both excited and anxious that this maybe wasn't a good idea and he won't like it.

He won't say __yes__.

It's too late to have second thoughts, though. The little box is weighing inside her pocket and waiting for her to take it out.

Jake seeks her approval once they both stand still in front of the closed door, and kicks it open when she nods. She can see him instantly lower his gun as he takes in the sight in front of them.

"What is that?!" He turns to her, confusion easily readable on his face.

And confused he can be: instead of a criminal, there stands a beautifully laid out scene, with lights and rose petals and a blanket lying right where they were sitting a few years ago.

 _ _Nut?__

 _ _Only if you throw it!__

(Amy surely went all out.)

"Surprise?" She offers him a smile but still, he doesn't seem to understand.

"Wh–… Did __you__ do this? Why? What about the case?!" His gaze switches from her and the place, several times.

"The case's not real." Her smile grows fonder; her heart beats faster. She takes him by the hand and leads him towards the blanket. "It's all part of the plan."

The crease between his brows deepens as Jake seems more at loss than ever. "What plan?" Amy takes a deep breath before she goes on.

"This plan." Then, all of a sudden, she's on her knees with the small box out and open. The ring inside shines brightly in the sun.

"I don't understand." Jake is standing still in front of her, seemingly unable to move, his eyes stuck on her. Amy closes hers for a slight second before she brings them back to him and never leaves his gaze as she starts to speak. __You got this,__ she talks herself up. She wrote down the perfect speech, that she rehearsed more times that she truly needed. She knows it _by heart_.

(She didn't really need a planned out speech anyways – she just has to look at him for the words to flow out of her mouth naturally, a perfect mix of love declaration and funny anecdotes.)

"Jake Peralta," she solemnly says his name once she's done. His eyes, still watching her intently, are full of tears now.

(She can feel the salty pearls prickling inside of hers too.)

"You might not be my soulmate, but you're something better than that. You're the love of my life." Then, a short pause. "Will you marry me?"

A sob escapes Jake's mouth before he can muster a single word. "I love you so much," he cries. "Of course I will marry you." There's not a glimpse of hesitation in his voice.

Amy stands up, fully crying too now, then puts the ring on her __fiancé__ 's finger and brings him into a searing kiss to seal this new promise of forever. They don't draw away just yet when they part, her hands framing his face and catching his happy tears.

"You kind of stole my move, though," Jake teases and Amy's heart sours, because their relationship hasn't felt __this__ normal in weeks. His expression turns serious again a second later. "Hey, I'm sorry for being distant these past weeks." He sheepishly lowers his gaze. She cups his cheek, gently and lovingly. He doesn't have to apologize. It hurt, yes, but she __understands__.

He's been through hell and back.

"And I hope you didn't think me not proposing to you meant I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with you anymore. Because well, it's obvious I do." He puts his left hand up for emphasis. "I was just… afraid you'd end up regretting it if you said yes, and wish you were with someone else. With your true soulmate." Amy opens her mouth to say something, but he beats her at it. "I know now it was dumb for me to have doubts."

It's not what caught her off guard, though – even if she's thrilled to learn her plan worked and reassured him indeed.

"Wait, how do you know I knew you were planning on proposing to me?!"

"Ames, you know I don't fold my clothes. And yet when I came back, all of my hoodies were miraculously all perfectly folded in my drawer. Of course I knew you found the ring." He chuckles, something true and full of amusement and damn, __she missed that so much__.

She missed __them__ so much. It's a good thing none of them is going anywhere anymore, and will have the rest of their lives to make up for lost times.

"Wanna get out of here and go celebrate our __engagement__ at home?" Jake talks again, shooting her a knowing look.

"I'd love that." She smiles at him. She lets him lead her towards the door, his hand wrapped around hers. He only lets it go to open the door – but nothing happens. He tries again. Still nothing.

"So… We're locked up again." He brings his attention back on her, defeated.

The irony of it makes Amy laugh, a happy giggle soon joined by Jake's own burst of laughter at her reaction. There's no more pain inside his eyes when she shoots him a glance as he watches her – only the love and adoration remain.

"Well, I mean, I __did__ prepare a bag full of nuts for us to eat," she tells him knowingly. "And that blanket's pretty comfortable as well."

The grin he shoots her in return says it all. It's brighter than the setting sun above.

 _ _He's finally home,__ _Amy_ thinks as Jake excitedly agrees to her offer.

And, somehow, she's finally home, too.


	141. A Little Boy, A Little Girl

**A Little Boy, A Little Girl (Laughing and Loving)**

Amy takes a deep breath as she walks towards the table where Jake and Charles are currently sitting. She can feel people's eyes on her as she passes by them, probably judging her hideous outfit.

She lets out a sigh, ignoring them. Tonight is going to be a long night, she can already tell. She knows Jake, so she's ready for the worst. He was only teasing her back then, but she knows at least half of what he threatened her with the whole week _will_ be part of their date. She'd rather be at home doing the crosswords puzzle of the day in the warmth of her bed. But she can't.

Because, as much as it pains it to admit, she lost a bet. And now she has to pay the consequences of her loss.

She keeps her eyes fixed on her colleagues while she goes through the crowd of Shaw's patrons. She tries to find comfort in the fact that at least, she's not the only one looking ridiculous tonight. With his suit jacket and cheap pair of shorts, Jake is making quite a show of himself as well. And he _chose_ to dress like that, when _she_ didn't have a choice.

(She knows he only did so to embarrass her, but still.)

She's only a few feet behind her friends when she hears her name being called. "… Somewhere down deep, you like Amy. Like, _like her_ , like her."

It makes her stop in her tracks in shock. For just a second, her heartbeat quickens in her chest with the words. She's so close to the pair, she could easily make her presence known, but does nothing of the sort. Somehow, she's curious as to what Jake has to answer to this. His back is on her so she can't see his face.

"Okay, that's straight-up insanity," he's quick to deny. It hurts Amy a little, that it seems so impossible for him to have feelings for her. It's not like she would make the worst girlfriend.

(Not that it matters, anyways. _She_ doesn't have feelings for him and could never imagine herself in a relationship with someone as immature as he is. But still.)

She takes another step towards them, trying not to take all of this too personally. But then Charles talks again; she stops again.

"How much did you spend on tonight?" He doesn't seem to let go so easily.

"1,400$." Amy lets out a small gasp as her eyes grow bigger, then quickly puts a hand on her mouth to cover the sound.

Isn't he supposed to be in _crushing_ debt?! Why would he spend so much on a stupid bet, then?!

(It's _Jake_ , a voice inside her head reminds her. It really shouldn't surprise her that he'd invest himself in the joke as much as he apparently did.)

"But all of it's on credit cards, so it's like, 5$ a month for the next 2,000 years. I DO NOT LIKE AMY!" His tone rises higher into the air with the last sentence. It startles Amy, and the determination with which he says those words makes her heart ache once more. She gets it. She's not his type. No need to sound so offended about someone implying she could be.

"You're putting a lot of effort into a joke. Why don't you sit down and have a real conversation with her?"

"Okay, Boyle, you live in your ex-wife's new boyfriend's basement. I'm not taking advice from you." He sounds upset now. Amy takes it as her cue to step in.

"Hey." She comes sit by their sides, trying to act casually with a small smile to her friends as she joins them.

"Oh, Amy, we were talking about you," Charles says.

He shoots Jake a knowing look, who only shakes his head and rolls his eyes in return. She acts as if doesn't feel the heavy atmosphere weighing between the two men.

"Yeah, we were talking about how we wish you've been exercizing lately, because it's _dance time_ ," Jake quickly changes topics, though. He shoots her a teasing grin, amusement clearly shining inside his eyes. As he makes her stand up to make her join the center of the bar, she already knows whatever he's got in mind, she's gonna _hate_ it.

He's fun as a friend, but yep, it's clear for Amy she could never _like_ him romantically either.

 _Oh, and there is one more rule. You're not allowed to fall in love with me,_ she remembers his words from earlier.

 _Won't be a problem,_ she said in a jaded voice. She already loves to follow rules, but this is one she's pretty sure she'll never struggle not to break.

(Or at least, that's what she tells herself.)

* * *

Jake doesn't like Amy. Charles doesn't know what he's talking about – he's the worst when it comes to love. He thought something was going on between them from _a shake of hands_ , for god's sake.

His judgment is not to be trusted, then. Especially when he's high on 'truth' drugs, or whatever it is that makes him openly tell everyone what's going on inside his mind.

Amy's his friend, and that's what she'll always be for him.

And yet, for some reason, his colleague's words keep resonating in his mind the whole night – as he spins her around in front of a cheering crowd and she tells him that she _hates his guts_ ; as they stop by each of their apartments to change clothes for something more work-appropriate and he finds himself staring a second too long; as she recalls her worst dates with him and he thinks _how dumb_

 _are these guys for acting like this on a date with someone like_ her; as he tells her all about his Mustang and why he loves it so much and she _remembers_ he's in crushing debt.

As he throws a nut to her and she misses it, resulting in the both of them happily laughing together.

 _Why don't you sit down and have a real conversation with her?_

"Hey, uh, I was wondering…" Amy's hesitant voice brings him back to reality. As he looks at her, he can see the amusement that was there only mere seconds ago has now turned into seriousness.

She's barely looking at him, clearly nervous. She tucks her hair behind her ears, leaving room for him to see that the tip has turned a shade darker in the beginning of a blush.

He would usually find it cute but right now, it kind of makes him getting nervous too, frowning in confusion. What is it that she has to ask him?!

"What did, uh–… what did Charles meant, when he said that you might like me?" She eventually manages to meet his gaze.

It's a good thing Jake's not eating any nut right now, otherwise he would have chocked on it. Of all things, he didn't expect _that_.

"You heard that?!"

"Yeah, I was on my way back from the bathroom when he told you that." She shoots him a sheepish smile. Her blush deepens, now coloring her cheeks.

Inside his chest, his heart is now pounding but still, Jake tries to remain casual.

"Oh… Well, you know how he is. We met and he already pictured us married. So you can guess what us going on a 'date' does to him." He shrugs.

 _Why don't you sit down and have a real conversation with her?_ his best friend's voice comes back louder into his head. _This is your chance, dummy_ , another – his own?! – joins him.

"I guess it makes sense." Amy answers. She doesn't seem too convinced by his explanation, though. She even looks a little… disappointed?!

"But, uh–… maybe he's not completely wrong, this time," he says the words before he can fully think about them. He regrets them the moment they are out as Amy stares intently at him.

"What do you mean?"

He nervously scratches the back of his neck. This is a tricky situation he put himself in. Because he can't possibly take what he just said back, can he?! Pretend that nothing happened.

(He's pretended long enough, though. Pretended that Charles was wrong. Pretended that he doesn't like her. Fooled himself into thinking he did _not_ have feelings for her, when he clearly does.)

Jake clears his throat, trying to regain some composure before he talks again.

"Do you want to go on a _real_ date, sometimes?"


	142. To Be Drunk and in Love in New York City

"Ready to lose, Peralta?!"

Amy turns around to glace at her fiancé with a daring look shining in her eyes and a confident smirk lighting up her face, a dart in her left hand.

"Oh, yeah. I'm ready to _watch_ you lose, Santiago," Jake answers in the same tone and mischievous grin as he rests his chin on his clenched fist to emphasize his words.

He couldn't tell who got the idea of starting a game of darts during one of the squad's nights at Shaw's. All he knows is that an hour ago everyone was here, having drinks and chatting happily while now it's only he and Amy playing against one another and feeling _very_ competitive.

Especially now that they're nearing the end of the game, with just one last dark to throw to determine who's the best between the two of them.

And, more importantly, to determine who's gonna have to invite Hitchcock and Scully to their upcoming bachelor/ette parties.

If Jake won the first round (unfortunately for her, 3-drink Amy and her constant need to dance weren't too compatible with such a game), Amy beat him – and by far – during the second round. Indeed, 4-drink Amy, or best known as Pervert Amy, does _not_ restrain herself when Jake's around – even more so since he proposed to her, he recently noticed.

She perfectly knew how to distract him with the right words whispered against his ear or a discreet squeeze or slap of his butt when he was about to throw his dart, then. No need to say he missed all of his shots.

Jake tried to argue it was unfair and she cheated but Amy insisted with a suggestive wink there was no rule preventing her from using her charms. She left him with no choice but to surrender.

It's her turn again now, and she's just downed her fifth drink – meaning she's utterly confident she's going to win this last round and thus the entire game.

"I'm the best shooter of the entire NYPD," she (barely exaggeratingly) brags as she focuses back on the dartboard on the wall opposite her. "This, in comparison, is a piece of cake. I'm gonna _c_ _rush_ you."

She looks at him, something dark and daring while letting out the last sentence. Despite the stakes and his own involvement in the game, Jake can't retain the fond smile that forms on his lips as he watches her.

 _Damn, he loves this woman so much._ He still can't believe he's going to _marry her_ in just about a few weeks now. He's for sure the luckiest person alive.

He can feel his heart warm up in his chest at the thought.

" _Dammit!"_ Amy's frustrated voice rising into the air takes him out of his reverie. It makes Jake frown at first but then, when he glances at the dartboard and sees her dart stuck on the wall, his curious expression soon turns into a joyful one. A small laugh escapes his mouth as he looks at her and the pout that formed on her face.

(She's _adorable_.)

"Nice job, Santiago. If the game was to hit anything _but_ the board, I'd say you might be winning," he teases as he stands up to throw his own dart. "But remind me what the _actual_ rules are again?"

She lets out a sigh and glares at him, clearly not amused. It only makes Jake laugh more.

"Shut up. You haven't won yet."

Amy takes his place on the booth, crossing her arms over her chest. He still catches how the corners of her mouth quirk up a little despite herself.

"Oh but I will. Have fun at your bachelorette party with Hitchcock and Scully!" he says in a challenging tone, then puts his full attention on the dartboard in front of him.

His shot is nothing impressive but still better than Amy's – _his_ at least ends up somewhere on the board, making him the winner of their game indeed.

"Ugh." He hears her annoyed grunt before he turns around to brag about his victory to her face. The words remain stuck in the back of his throat when he sees her grab his beer in defeat, though.

"Babe, I wouldn't do–…" He tries to stop her, but it's too late. She's already downing what's inside the small bottle – seemingly all in one gulp. "… _that_ ," Jake finishes his sentence as she puts the drink back down on the table.

"Go ahead. Brag all you want. You've earned it." She watches him in the eyes as he takes a seat by her side and she accepts her defeat.

Knowing he still has a few minutes before the effects of the alcohol kicks in and 6-drink Amy, aka. Sad Amy takes over his fiancé's mind, Jake doesn't wait for Amy to tell him twice to oblige.

"Thank you, babe. I think I've earned it too. Because, guess what? I _won_."

* * *

"That's unfair. I always lose everything," Amy whines, her head hidden in the crook of Jake's neck as he holds her close.

It's been a good ten minutes since her 6-drink counterpart took over, and he's been trying to calm her down since. He smiles a little at her words.

"Hey, that's not true." He lifts her head up a little, so that she can look at him while he talks. She shoots him a curious frown as she stares deeply at him. There are a few tears prickling inside her eyes and even though Jake knows it's only the alcohol talking, he can't help but feel bad and for his heart to clench in his chest. He truly hates seeing the love of his life being sad.

"Everything I've won so far are the things you _let me_ ," she says accusingly.

"Again, wrong. There are plenty of things you won on your own. You crushed your sergeant exam, for once. And remember Halloween, 2 years ago? You definitely won this one all by yourself. And it was a pretty dope win." He shoots her a knowing smile, trying to be reassuring. Amy's face lights up a little at that, and Jake counts it as his own personal victory. "And you know what else you won?" he goes on, motivated by her seemingly positive reaction.

She shakes her head, clueless.

"My heart." He brushes the ring on her left finger with the hand that's holding hers to emphasize his words. "And isn't _that_ the biggest prize of all?" His smile turns into an amused grin.

It's probably the cheesiest thing he could say, but he doesn't really care; especially when he hears a small giggle finally escape Amy's mouth and it echoes through the now almost empty bar. _That_ was his main goal.

(Plus, it's completely true. She _did_ win his heart indeed.)

"Jake, this is so corny," she seems to agree with him.

She's still smiling slightly, though, and doesn't seem like breaking into tears like she was only mere moments ago.

Jake laughs. "What can I say? Being an engaged man changes you." He nudges at her knowingly.

Amy's face softens at the mention of their future wedding. It's shining brightly in the dim light of the bar. He catches how her smile grows bigger – fonder, even.

She takes her hand away from his to gently cup his cheek.

"I can't wait to marry you," she says in a soft voice full of love.

"I can't wait to marry you too."

Jake then leans in to press a small kiss on her mouth. "Mrs. Peralta," he whispers with a smile as they part, lips still close and foreheads touching.

"Santiago," she corrects. "I'm keeping my name."

Jake slightly draws away to better look at her as he speaks. "Should I take yours, then? _Jacob Santiago_ …" He pauses for a second to think. "Does it sound good?" He seeks for Amy's approval, watching her intently. Suddenly, something switches inside her eyes and a new spark comes flashing in there.

Jake knows it means she just got an idea.

(He can't help but feel relieved the effects of her sixth drink seem to have completely washed off by now.)

"Well…" she trails off for a little suspense. "I guess we could judge that with another bet," she shoots him a daring, knowing smile.

It doesn't take long for Jake to get on board with the idea.

"I guess we could, yeah." They're both grinning as they shake hands.

(In his chest, Jake's heart warms up a little at the thought that he _definitely_ found his right person – his _perfect match_. He can't wait to spend the rest of his life with her, and live a life full of love and joy and fun and endless bets to win, he can only imagine.)


	143. A Post-Breakup Hug

The night is still young but Amy already feels like going home.

She's sitting at a table with some of the squad, her first beer almost empty in front of her. All around, her friends are chatting vividly but she barely listens to them. Her mind is lost elsewhere, in another dimension. Her eyes are stuck on the couple sitting together at the bar while they wait for their order to come and she can't help but picture _herself_ there instead of the woman.

Jake is wearing a broad smile on his face. Sophia seems just as happy as he is, with her white teeth showing and brightening the whole dark room as she lets out a hearted laugh.

Amy daydreams about being in her place – imagining _she_ 's the one laughing at her colleague's joke. Imagining she's his _girlfriend_.

She could have been, if she hadn't missed her chance at the time, a voice inside her head painfully reminds her. If she hadn't chosen Teddy over him when he opened up to her about his feelings, she could be the one sitting there with him right now. Teddy, _boring_ Teddy, who she broke up with a few days ago in the most chaotic ways.

 _If you ask me, I think it's because Amy liked you back._

He wasn't wrong with his assumptions, she has to give him that. She was confused back then, but now it's clearer than ever: she does like Jake.

But it's too late for her to realize that. Because it's someone else _he_ likes.

 _So, how'd it go with Sophia?_

 _Good. We made up. We're still together._

Although Amy's glad she didn't wreak havoc in Jake's relationship too – especially when he seems to really care about Sophia, a woman she _does_ like too –, his words hurt every time she thinks about them.

"Santiago?! _Amy!_ " The feeling of a fist hitting her shoulder as she recognizes Rosa's voice next to her calling her name suddenly brings her back to reality.

It takes her another few seconds of looking around to remember where she is exactly. When she does, though, she realizes everyone is staring at her. She blushes at the sight of all these pairs of eyes on her, ears and cheeks burning.

"What?" she asks, confused.

"For the third time, Boyle wants to know if you want another drink?" Rosa explains with a sigh.

"Oh."

Amy doesn't remember him asking. Not once. She was probably too lost in her thoughts to pay attention. She shoots a quick glance at the couple at the bar before answering anything – Jake's now coming their way with two drinks in his hands and a dreamy grin on his face while Sophia's heading to the bathroom.

Her heart drops again. She can't deal with her feelings tonight.

"Actually, I was thinking about going home. I have to get up early tomorrow," she lies. She stands up to emphasize her words.

She doesn't have the time to take one step that Jake's by their side, shooting everyone a bright smile as he puts down his drinks on the table. His expression changes when his gaze meets Amy's – his brows furrow in a frown.

"Where're you going?"

"Home," she quickly answers. It's hard to look at him. His eyes are shining in the dim light; he seems blissful and a little drunk, already.

"But it's only 10 pm and you're off tomorrow!" he complains with a pout. He looks disappointed she's leaving. It makes Amy's heart flip in her chest.

As she now stares at him, her mind takes her elsewhere again – to some parallel universe where she can kiss the pout out of his face and agree to stay before sitting with him and cuddle against his side on the booth.

"Hey, you okay?" The seriousness of his voice when he talks is what takes Amy back to the present this time. She must have stayed silent for too long.

"Yeah, sorry, I just–… got lost in my thoughts for a moment." She forces a smile at him. Jake nods but still studies her for a while, piercing through her core in search of something. He doesn't seem too convinced by her excuse.

"Come here." He shockingly opens his arms to welcome her into an embrace as an answer. Amy's hesitant at first but eventually obliges.

Her whole body instantly melts when he clasps his hands around her back and holds her close to him, his scent taking over her.

She hopes he can't feel her rushing heart beating against his chest.

Jake turns his head while hugging her, so that he can whisper to her ear. "I know we talked about it, but you sure you're okay with how everything ended with Teddy? You seem a bit off since we came back from that prisoner transfer. So I just want to make sure you know that even if I joke about it, if you want me to stop and have a real conversation about it, I'm here for you, huh? I mean, it's partially my fault it all went so wrong."

All kinds of emotions take over Amy at that, and she finds herself tightening the embrace just for a second before she unwillingly draws away.

"Thanks, Jake." She doesn't have to force the small smile that forms on her lips this time. "I promise I'm fine." And she believes she _will be_ – finally, she thinks as she's overwhelmed with fondness for her colleague, it's probably for the best nothing ever happened between the two of them. There would be too much to lose if it were not to work, Amy tries to hold onto that thought.

She couldn't risk losing one of her best friends over a failed relationship.

"Say bye to Sophia for me, okay?"

"Okay." He smiles back at her. "See you on Monday."

Amy leaves after waving everyone goodbye. Before she can pass the door out of _Shaw's_ bar, she hears Jake's voice rising into the air behind her.

"Hey, you!" It's joyful and she doesn't have to see to picture the grin on his face and the glow in his eyes as Sophia probably just came back from the bathroom.

She lets out a sigh as she quickly gets out of the place, the thought and feeling of Jake's arms securely wrapped around hers in a comforting embrace and showing her some support still vivid in her head.

 _Better as friends,_ she tries to convince herself.


	144. A Kiss Followed by a Hug

**A Kiss Followed by a Hug When One Buries their Face into the Other's Neck**

She doesn't want to draw away.

She keeps her mouth on his, trying to imprint the feeling of his lips moving against hers permanently into her mind – she doesn't know when she'll get to kiss him again, after all. She's determined to make the most of every last second, then. Only when they desperately need air do they part, but even then, she doesn't let go of him.

Her forehead remains glued to his, her hands gently cupping his cheeks and her thumbs catching a few stray tears as she does so.

Amy doesn't open her eyes just yet. She's afraid that if she does, a fresh wave of tears that has been slowly building up since they left the bed and got ready for their goodbyes will start pouring down her face and never stop. She's afraid of what she might see in _his_ eyes, too. The pain. The fear.

The unmitigated love.

 _I love you. So much._

 _Aw, I love you so much too._

They were supposed to move in together. They weren't supposed to be separated again, just mere hours after _she_ came back.

Life's unfair, to say the least.

"Ames…"

Jake's voice is low when he speaks, barely above a whisper. It's pleading, too, practically begging her to look at him. Her heart clenches in her chest when their eyes finally meet. Down at their feet, she catches sight of his bag full of the few personal belongings he was allowed to bring with him. He doesn't even know where he's being sent yet and she, on the other hand, will _never_ know.

 _For his safety_ , they said. _And yours_ , they added – as if it would reassure her. But she knew that already. She didn't need to be reassured.

She's a cop; she knows the protocol by heart.

"They'll be here any second now," Jake says.

"I know."

But instead of letting go of him like she should, Amy only moves her arms so they wrap tightly around his middle.

Jake doesn't protest. On the contrary, he holds her close to his heart as she buries her face in the crook of his neck. Despite the situation, she manages to relax a little, if only for a second. She's always felt safe, in his arms. She takes a deep breath. His hoodie smells like the now very familiar scent of his cheap detergent – it smells like him. It smells like _home_. The warmth and familiarity of it all almost makes her forget about the situation that they're in.

 _Almost._

A first tear rolls down her cheek, quickly followed by others, dampening his hoodie as they fall and she keeps her head pressed into his shoulder.

Jake hugs her tighter.

There are tons of things they could say, promises to make, declarations to offer, but they both choose to stay silent, wrapped up in each other and lost in their own minds. They don't want to draw away. Maybe if they don't move, Amy foolishly thinks, they could stay like this forever.

Jake won't have to go somewhere where she can't follow.

They won't be separated again.

(She knows it doesn't work like this.)

It's the ringtone of his phone, the painful signal that it's time for him to go away – time for them to face the depressing truth –, that finally tears them apart.

There is no other choice. It would be far worse, far more dangerous if he stayed, and they both know it. They would be forced to live in constant fear until Figgis is caught.

That is, if they were lucky enough to live _at all_.

Figgis isn't some common, easy-to-catch criminal, after all.

They stare at one another for a beat, frantically taking in each other's features as much as they can, trying to memorize every detail. Amy doesn't know how long will pass before she gets to see this face again, and that's probably what hurts – and scares – her the most. She's heard all types of stories about people being sent to witness protection; some have a happy ending, and some don't.

And some never come back; they're forced to live in their new fake life _forever_.

As soon as the thought enters her mind, she quickly dismisses it. She can't afford to think like this. Jake _will_ come back, because _she_ will make sure he does.

The ringtone chimes again before either of them have a chance to say anything.

"I really have to go, now," Jake's broken voice whispers, breaking the silence, before trailing off again. It's clear in his eyes he doesn't want to go; he doesn't want to leave her either.

"I love you so, _so_ much." Amy presses one last kiss to his lips. She needs to make sure he remembers that while he's away and she can't tell him every time she wants. "And, Jake? I'll be there when you come back. Whenever that is," she promises as she stares deep into his eyes, so that he can see she _means_ it.

Her words make him smile. It's shy, a ghost of his usual grin, but it's still as sincere as it always has been. "I love you so, _so_ much too," he repeats, echoing her words. It both warms up her heart and crushes it at the same time. She'll miss hearing him say that to her for sure.

Actually, there's a lot of things she's gonna miss about him.

"We'll see each other soon, I promise," Amy swears before he closes the door behind him and separates them from one another. Once alone, she doesn't move just yet, allowing for the tears to now fall freely down her cheeks. Jake's apartment suddenly seems colder and too quiet, without him in it.

(To think it might have become _theirs_ , if he hadn't been forced to leave…)

(It will become theirs – unless they choose to move into hers, of course, although right now it doesn't really matter to her _where_ they live as long as it's _together_ – Amy reprimands herself. She'll fight with everything she has to bring Jake – and Holt – back home as soon as possible, just like she promised him.)


	145. Just to Be with You

Maybe Jake should feel a little worried about how fast his heart is racing in his chest as he waits for Amy to come back home.

He's both nervous and excited, his palms getting sweatier with every new minute he spends standing alone in the airport, unable to stay still. He can't help but wonder if surprising her like this was the right call to make, finally. Last time he meant to surprise her with something, after all, it backfired spectacularly – ending with the most awkward breakups of all times.

Plus she's only been away for a few days. And it's only been a few weeks since they started dating, too. So maybe it's too soon for such grand gestures – especially coming from someone who used to search for the cheapest dates to take a woman on and who's never been known to be the King of Romance. Somehow though, when it comes to Amy, Jake finds it's easier to make such plans.

He's missed her a lot, during these past 96 hours of being apart and barely getting a chance to talk. It's not his fault if they very quickly fell into a routine of sleeping at each other's apartment almost every night and thus soon got used to each other's presence in their lives outside of the precinct almost every day. The idea came to his mind rather naturally, then, when she told him all about her flight's schedule. He didn't really think about it – nor did he think it through.

He said he would be working at the time her plane lands in New York City, all the while already making a note inside his head to ask Holt for his day off.

Which he did right after their conversation ended.

Really, he should freak out about how she makes him feel, so early in their relationship. Yet here he is, waiting for her with a bouquet of what Rosa told him once are her favorite flowers. He's never felt happier than since he started dating this woman he pined for for so long and does well intend to make it work.

He might not be good with emotions and voicing them, but Jake is still a man full of resources and ideas – and decisions taken on an impulse.

He just hopes this one will be part of his brilliant ideas, and Amy will actually like having him here.

His phone ringing inside of his jeans' pocket suddenly takes him out of his spiralling thoughts. He frowns when he sees who the caller is.

 _Amy Santiago._

Jake quickly cans the place with his eyes – if she calls, it means her plane has landed, and yet nobody's walking through the gates.

"Hi Ames!" He tries to keep it cool but can't help the cheerfulness in his voice when he picks up, nor the smile that instantly forms on his face. Only the excitation remains now that he realizes he's going to see her soon. "Aren't you supposed to arrive in only like," he looks at the clock above him, "half an hour?"

(He surprisingly came here _early_ , just in case her flight would be too.)

"Yeah, I guess the plane I told you I was gonna take will…" she trails off. Jake instantly loses his smile and all his worries come rushing back into his mind.

 _What does this mean?!_ he can't help but wonder. Did something happen, did she miss her flight? But he quickly dismisses the thought. It's Amy.

There is _no way_ she missed her flight.

"What do you mean?" he asks, then.

"I think we got the same idea."

He can hear her laugh softly through the device. It helps him relax, although he still doesn't get what's going on. "What idea?"

"I'm already home. I took an early flight. I wanted to surprise you at the precinct, but Charles told me you're not working today and you're supposed to pick me up at the airport."

"Oh."

Mixed feelings take over Jake as the news weigh in. First, he's relieved to know his idea wasn't so stupid and it wasn't too soon after all, since she apparently got the same. He can't help but feel a little disappointed too, though, that she beat him at it and he didn't get to surprise _her_. He was eager to see the look on her face when she'd pass the doors and see him standing there with a welcoming grin and his bouquet of flowers.

Most of all, he's hit by a huge wave of warmth at the thought of Amy coming back early from her trip at her parents' house so that she could surprise _him_. (Because she was missing him, too?)

"I'm sorry I ruined the surprise." She talks again when he doesn't say another word. "It was really nice of you to do." Her voice is soft and sincere and even though he can't actually see her, Jake can tell Amy's smiling as she speaks. It makes him smile too. A new wave of warmth and fondness for his girlfriend overwhelms him.

"Ah, it's okay. I guess it makes us even. I did ruin your surprise too." He lets out a small chuckle, soon reciprocated on the other end of the phone.

A few seconds of comfortable silence pass between them.

"How was your flight, by the way?"

"I'm heading back home now," Amy says instead of answering his question. "Wanna meet me there? For realz, this time, so that I can tell you all about it?"

"I'd love that," Jake immediately agrees.

"Great. See you there then."

He rushes out of the airport the second he hangs up. When he knocks on Amy's door about forty minutes later, his flowers don't look too good anymore and there's no hint of surprise glowing in her eyes, but it doesn't prevent Jake from grinning at her and for a rush of happiness to come coursing through his body at the sight of her. She's wearing comfortable sweatpants and her hair is still a little wet from the shower she most likely just took and yes, he _did_ miss her a lot.

(He _likes_ her a lot.)

"Hi," she greets him with a smile as bright as the one he's sure he's currently wearing on his own face.

"Hey." He echoes her words. Then hands her the flowers. "Sorry, they looked better earlier. Don't think they liked the way back from the airport too much. I don't know. I'm not good with flowers," he apologizes.

Amy lets out a chuckle as she grabs them. She shakes her head but Jake can see how her eyes shine while she takes a look at them. She quickly brings her gaze back onto his, though. "C'mere." She invites him in.

She barely waits for the door to close behind him to close the gap between them and press her lips onto his. It might have only been 4 days since he last kissed her, the gesture still sends a rush of bliss running down Jake's spine. He wraps his hands around her waist, now that both his hands are free.

"I missed you." Amy's the first one to acknowledge it when they part. She's looking at him with a content smile on her face and her forehead resting against his.

It takes Jake a few seconds to reciprocate the words (he might be able to come up with sudden grand gestures, he's still learning to open up more about his feelings and actually _voice_ them). "I missed you too." He _does_ mean it when he says it, though – for sure he missed her.

He can see Amy's smile broaden at that as she eventually draws away.

"So, you're not working _at all_ today, huh?"

"Nope. Not at all. I'm all yours." He grins at her knowingly.

"Great." She shoots him a matching expression that makes his heart miss a beat in his chest. He can't wait to spend the whole day just the two of them.

(Maybe Jake should feel a little worried about how being reunited with Amy somehow feels like _he_ 's the one who just came back home, but he doesn't really care right now. As he lets her head him towards her living room, all he can think about is how lucky he is to have her in his life – and how glad he is for her to finally be back from her small trip out of the city.)


	146. It's a Sweet Life

If they didn't always have the impact he thought they would have in the past, now Jake can congratulate himself for being a Master of Surprises.

Despite the heartbreaking scene happening in front of his eyes – their daughter crying in Amy's arms, holding onto her koala-stylez as she doesn't want to let her leave for a 4-day seminar out of state –, he can't help but smile knowingly. His two dream girls don't know what's awaiting them.

They don't know they will get to see each other sooner than they both think, thanks to him and his _amazing_ idea.

"Anana." He takes a step closer to the pair and brings a hand to the little girl's back to stroke gently. "It's time to let Mama go, baby." His voice is soft when he talks to her.

He shares an understanding look with his wife, who offers him a small smile. It's clear in her eyes she's not too keen on going away either, and that it's painful for her to see their child so sad because of it, but she doesn't have a choice. This seminar is important for her future career as a Captain, a goal she's never been closer to reach than she is right now.

Bailing on it is no option, then. And if Jake understands – of course he does –, Ana is still too young to get it yet. She doesn't seem willing to let go as she holds onto her mother tighter and shakes her head followed her father's words. A new wave of tears rolls down her small cheeks.

"Hey, look at me." It's Amy's turn to try and calm their girl down by forcing her head up. "I'll be home soon, promise. And I'll call you every night before sleep. Plus you'll have fun with Daddy, you know how he's always the one who lets you eat as much ice cream as you want." She chuckles amusedly. Jake can't really deny it – he often finds it hard to say 'no' to the child, especially when it comes to eating sweets, being a fan of them himself. This seems to work a little on Ana though, who this time nods and slightly loosens her grip on her mother.

Jake takes it as his cue to take over and take their daughter in his own arms so that Amy can finally leave. She grabs her bag on the floor then goes back to them, kissing Ana's temple first then his lips.

"Send a text when you land," Jake softly whispers when they part.

Amy smiles at him. "Of course. Bye, Anana." She strokes her cheek tenderly and removes a lost tear as she does so. "I love you guys."

"We love you too. Have a safe flight."

"Love you too, Mama," Ana's little voice rises into the air as she takes the thumb she had put in her mouth out and watches her mother leave. It makes the woman stop for a second to blow another kiss in her direction and wave at her. Jake can feel Ana's grip on him tighten as they stand in the middle of the airport until Amy's out of sight and he holds her closer to his chest as a response.

When he brings his attention away from where his wife has now disappeared and back on the little girl, he can see she's crying again.

"Hey, Anana, you wanna know a little secret?" he asks as he kisses her hair. He can feel her head move up and down in approval. "It's a surprise, so you can't tell Mama, okay? But we're gonna see her in 2 sleeps." He raises 2 fingers into the air to emphasize his words with a grin slowly forming on his lips.

The child's eyes grow bigger in confusion – this is not what they told her before, insisting the _4_ sleeps she'd have to go through without Amy would actually go by very fast.

"We're going to go on vacation where Mama is for the weekend," Jake further explains and, in his arms, he can tell the exact moment the news hit Ana as her face instantly lights up and her sadness and tears suddenly disappear.

Yep, he definitely _is_ the Master of Surprises indeed, he thinks as he heads out of the airport.

* * *

Amy's deep into the last reviewing of her big presentation when she receives a text that makes her look away from her laptop's screen for a second. An instant smile comes curving up the corners of her mouth as she seems when the sender is – it turns into the softest beam when she opens the message.

 _Good luck with your presentation. No doubt you're gonna ace it. Love from us, we're at the pool thinking of you! Xx_ , it reads. Attached with it is a picture of Jake and Ana in the water. She takes a moment to stare at it, her eyes lingering on the happy smile on the little girl's face, looking so cute in her yellow swinsuit and small armbands.

(Jake obviously looks just as adorable, grinning at the camera in front of them.)

Amy's relieved to see her daughter's feeling much better than when she left her at the airport – although she knows that already, having had her on the phone the previous night, when she excitedly told her all about what she and her father did during the day. It's not the first time she goes away like this for work, and it's only the second day she's spending away from her family but Amy misses them already. She wishes she could be with them at the pool.

She looks at the empty bed next to her, the result of what must have been a mistake as she booked a room with just a single bed for the duration of her stay but ended up with two, and thinks about how great it would be if Jake and Ana were here with her. She loves her job, and she's passionate about the topic of the presentation she's about to give, but she definitely loves them more.

Amy lets out a small sigh as she sends a quick answer then puts her phone back down to focus on her presentation again. Today, and more particularly this morning, is the most important day of the whole seminar for her – after that, she'll have more time to relax in-between other people's presentations and conferences. Maybe she'll even take a swin at the hotel's pool at the end of the afternoon as well.

It won't be anything like doing so with her husband and daughter with her, but at least it'll still be soothing and a well-deserved treat after she, like Jake wrote, _aces her presentation_.

She actually makes it out of the conference room by 3 p.m., earlier than expected and with her schedule's clear for the rest of the afternoon. She's wearing a satisfied smile on her face as she separates from another Lieutenant who stopped her to congratulate her – her presentation went _amazing_. She checks her phone to see if she received any more messages during the day and her already good mood only lifts up when she finds there are three new pictures Jake sent of their daughter and him having fun at the pool.

Amy can't wait to have them on the phone later so that they can all share with each other what seems to have been a great day for everyone so far. She doesn't reply until she's back in her room and changed, also sharing a picture of her beach bag as she's about to head downstairs and have a swim herself.

It's the first time she's stepping foot in the pool area since she arrived at the hotel but still, as she enters it, she gets a feeling of déjà-vu. She doesn't linger on the thought too much, letting her eyes wander around in search of a free chaise to to put her stuff before going inside the water. She barely has the time to take a few steps forward after finding one that a small voice she would recognize anywhere hails her.

"Mama!" she hears Ana before she actually sees her. She easily finds her inside the pool, with Jake trying to hold her still as she keeps moving to get closer to her mother. She's spalshing him and the few people around them with water as she wiggles inside her father's arms in excitement. He shoots her a huge grin when their eyes meet and Amy's heart instantly melts in her chest.

She can't believe they're here _for realz_.

As soon as they're close enough, she grabs her daughter to take her out of the water and into a warm hug. Ana immediately wraps her hands around her tightly. She's soaked, dampening Amy with her wet body. Droplets of cold water are falling from her long dark hair and making the woman shiver as they hit the exposed skin of her arms but she couldn't care less.

The two people she loves the most in her life are by her side and really, that's all that matters.

"You like our surprise?" The little girl eventually draws away to look at her mother.

Amy shoots her the softest of beams. A pang of love overwhelms her as she looks at her child. "I love it," she says sincerely and kisses Ana's temple.

Jake joins them right at the same moment, shooting her a knowing grin. He wraps an arm around her shoulder to greet her, bringing both her and their daughter towards him. Amy relaxes under his touch.

There was a time she would absolutely dread his surprises. They always seemed to somehow backfire spectacularly and turn into real nightmares.

Now though, and this ever since they started dating, they've become some of the sweetest things anyone's done for her – this particular one being another example of their greatness.

"Hi, babe." Jake's smile turns more tender as he speaks.

"Hey." She grins at him. Despite having him in front of her and the weight of their daughter in her arms, Amy still has a hard time realizing they made it to her hotel out of state. It does make sense now though why she didn't get the room she was supposed to have – Jake probably called the hotel at some point to upgrade it for when they would arrive. "What are you guys doing here?!"

"Oh, y'know. We heard the best Lieutenant of the NYPD would be here for a seminar this weekend, so we _had_ to come see her," he jokes (although she knows for a fact he _does_ believe she is the best at her job indeed) and Amy laughts heartedly.

 _God, she missed them._ She's not even embarrassed to admit it after only two days of being apart.

"For realz, though." Jake's voice suddenly turns serious. "How did your presentation go?"

"Great. Everyone seemed to love it."

Amy can see his smile turn into a proud grin.

"Told you you'd ace it!"

"Yeah." She pauses for a beat, shooting a small look at Ana, who's still curled up inside her arms and doesn't seem to let go of her mother soon. "I'm so glad you guys are here."

"Us too. We missed you. Right, Anana?"

"YES!" The little girl doesn't wait to approve her father's words. She then looks at Amy with pleading eyes. "Can we get ice cream? Daddy said we would when you're here."

Amy lets out a small chuckle at how Ana doesn't wait for long to go straight to the point. She glances at Jake, shaking her head in mock-disapproval at the promise he made to their daughter.

"Hey, you deserve it! And we deserve it too, after pulling the best surprise ever," he teases smugly and Amy can't disagree with that.

"You're right." She puts the little girl down and grabs her hand instead. Ana's quick to use her other hand to hold onto Jake as well. "Let's go get some ice cream." Amy's heart warms up in her chest and a grin forms on her face at the thought she's going to spend the rest of her seminar with them to come home to.

Getting to tell each other about their day in front of an ice cream under the sun definitely feels better than doing so over the phone, alone in her hotel room.

(Getting to sleep with her husband by her side and their daughter in the little bed next to them definitely feels much better as well.)


	147. Let Me See Beneath Your Beautiful

**Would You Let Me See Beneath Your Beautiful?**

Everything goes just fine, at first.

No, _great_ , even.

The touch of Jake's hands on her body, eagerly yet somehow so sweetly discovering her body for the first time sends shivers running down her spine as they stand in the dim light of his small apartment. When his mouth leaves hers after exchanging another searing kiss, it's only to set down on her neck. Amy closes her eyes to better appreciate the feeling of his lips pressing against her skin.

A small moan escapes her – for sure she doesn't regret breaking yet another rule with him.

The remnants of her 4-drink counterpart make her own touches bolder, and her kisses more passionate, yet Amy's sober enough to know what she's doing and, more importantly, to know she wants _this_. She made sure Jake knew that too when she suggestively asked him to take her to his place and he hesitated, reminding her of the rule she herself came up with earlier that day.

 _Let's not have sex right away._

It was a dumb idea she got, she realized soon enough as she ordered 4 kamikaze shots for herself back at the restaurant.

So everything goes just fine – _great_ – heavenly well until Amy starts working off the buttons of Jake's blue shirt, soon making it join his jacket and her heels already discarded on the floor.

She takes a moment to take him in, her palms flat on his now bare chest. She can feel his heart beating loudly under her hands – it makes her smile smugly as she looks up at him.

 _She_ is the one who makes him feel like this, she can't help but think proudly.

(Truth to be told, in her own chest, her heart is beating just as fast with excitement and anticipation.)

But then as she lets her eyes fall back on his body, she's stopped still in her movements when she sees _it_. A red scar, partially hidden under his chest hair. It doesn't seem too old, nor does it seem to have healed so properly, leaving a very obvious mark where it stands. Amy's no doctor but she's seen enough wounds in her life as a detective and sister of seven reckless brothers to know that 1) this is definitely a knife wound, and 2) it clearly hasn't been taken care of professionally.

For a moment the excitement is gone, replaced with worry as she ever so gently traces the scar with the tip of her finger. Her eyes are stuck on Jake's chest, unable to look away from it. Even though she can't see his face, she can still feel his body tense under her touch – and not in a good, agreeable way. A heavy silence falls upon the room as he holds his breath and Amy tries to recall where he could have gotten this.

Even though it's been a while (not that she counts the times she did, nor did she paid it too much attention when she saw him), this is not the first time she's seeing him shirtless.

As partners in the field for years now, they've learned to know each other rather intimately whether they wanted it or not. Plus she still has this one pic he sent her while being drunk the previous year, of him eating Chinese chicken salad on the subway platform – only as a way to blackmail him if needed, of course.

The quality of the pic wasn't too good, and she hasn't seen it in a while, but Amy is sure if he'd gotten the scar back then she would have noticed.

So it must have happened after that. Still, she can't remember a time recently when he got injured on a case with her or the squad had to visit him at the hospital for a knife wound. And then again, there is _no way_ this wound has been treated in a hospital anyway – or the doctor who took care of it was a complete amateur.

She can't recall him ever talking about getting hurt at all, which is weird in itself. Knowing Jake, he's more the kind of guy to brag about how he defeated death and show his 'dope' scars to everyone.

This is when it finally hits Amy. Jake was gone undercover for six months. With the mafia. The probability he injured himself there is very high, then. And it's a time he never talks about.

Well, it's not true – he did say a few things here and there after he came back, still likes to remind everyone from time to time about this _awesome_ mission he got assigned to, but overall he never went into deep details. Nobody's sure what he actually did and saw there because he always remains vague every time someone asks him then quickly changes topics.

It definitely seems like no matter how he tries to make it look like something amazing and light, a dream job become true, it's all in fact just some dark times he'd rather not think about too much – or at all.

Amy's heart tightens in her chest as she keeps her eyes and finger on the scar and imagines Jake, injured and alone having to leave his health and _life_ in the hands of some criminals.

She knows it's not her fault and there's nothing she could have done but somehow, she feels the guilt creeping up on her – the guilt of not having been there for him.

"How'd you get this?" she can't retain herself from asking, despite everything. She tries to remember their getaway weekend at Charles's ex-wife's beach house – probably the last time she saw him shirtless before tonight when everyone shared a moment in the hot tub together – and if he had it back then. All she can recall though is how 4-drink Amy, back when she was silently pining for him, couldn't stop thinking about what it would be like to run her hands through the bare skin of his body as she was staring at him hungrily. He was sitting right in front of her and she silently thanked Holt for asking to turn off the jets as it gave her a much better view of him this way.

(If she wasn't so worried about him right now, she would definitely relish in the fact that she _does_ know what his body feels like under her touch, now.)

For sure she was too drunk to think clearly and notice anything else than how good-looking he was with a few droplets of water falling down his chest. It would be no surprise then that she missed the scar at the time.

When she looks up, she finds Jake staring at her with a mix of a little pain and something else, something _softer_ and _fonder_ that takes over the rest the moment their eyes meet. He gently removes her hand away from his chest and kisses it lightly. For a beat she feels better, chills running down her spine.

He brings his mouth to her ears and whispers softly. "Happened when I was undercover," he says what she already guessed, then presses a kiss there. "Just some sexy scar I got while being out there saving the world," he tries to joke but Amy knows better – this is his signature reaction for when a conversation turns too serious for his liking. It doesn't amuse her, then.

She doesn't have the time to say anything in return because his mouth finds hers right after, before heading south towards her neck and the spot he found earlier that she likes so much. It's clear he wants to distract her from her question and worries and just wishes to go back to their previous, more fun activities rather than dwell in his past.

To be fair he almost succeeds, as Amy closes her eyes and lets the warm feeling overwhelm her just for a second before she opens them again.

Jake can probably tell he won't get away with this so easily and she can't take the thoughts away from her mind because, after one last light kiss and a sigh, he draws away to meet her eyes with his.

"It's all fine. I swear." The softest of smiles comes lighting up his entire face as he talks to her and gently strokes her arms in reassurance.

Amy takes a second to stare at him. One part of her brain tells her she should ask for more and make sure he _is_ fine indeed – it's too important a matter to let it be as it is. She doesn't want to force him to share things he doesn't feel like sharing with her, though. This is not her place to do so. Jake will tell her all about it when he wants to – _if_ he wants to. Plus his hands on her make it hard for her to stay focus, with her whole body begging for him to touch her further.

The way he looks at her, so fondly, doesn't help either.

"Okay." She eventually relaxes under his touch as she shoots him a small smile.

This is no one-night stand – Amy wants this relationship to work, and it seems like Jake does too, so they will always have later to talk about this scar. For now, she simply pulls him in for a kiss. It's very sweet and tender at first, completely different from their previous exchanges but quickly heats up as Jake's hands fall from her arms to her waist and they start over where they stopped in the discovery of each other's body.

(In the end, this night becomes one of the _best_ Amy's ever spent in her life. As she falls asleep with Jake's head resting on her chest and the covers of his bed wrapped around her, she _definitely_ doesn't mind breaking this particular rule. This was no mistake at all, they both agree on that.)

(It takes a little longer for Jake to fully open up about what truly happened while he was undercover with the mafia but when he does, the both of them lying in the intimacy of her room with just the moon outside as their witness and bringing some light in, Amy's there listening to him every step of the way and making sure he knows he'll never have to go through such things alone.

He'll have her by his side.)


	148. This Is Where I Belong

**In an Unexpected Way (This Is Where I Belong)**

Jake's done a lot of stupid stuff while being drunk.

More than once did he wake up regretting the decisions his past inebriated self had taken on an impulse – them being swiping right on an ex on Tinder, buying another (unnecessary) massage chair when he's still very much in crushing debt, or bitching on the record about his boss to a homophobic journalist he used to admire.

For a moment, when he received a letter saying he would indeed be there several months after their breakup, he thought sending an invitation for Bruce Willis to attend his and Sophia's (non-existent) Die Hand-themed wedding on one of their cheap wine-fueled date nights would be part of that list.

Right now though, as he's nervously waiting in front of their precinct for Amy to join him on the podium, wearing the best tuxedo he could have rented (he went all out and paid extra for a __four-button__ jacket) and a huge grin on his face, he thinks maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all. His eyes scan the place in search of Bruce Willis, who's still nowhere to be found, but then a song begins to play as Amy starts walking towards him and suddenly all he can pay attention to is her.

She looks stunning in one of Gina's white dresses and a bouquet of flowers in hands.

"We are here today to celebrate the wedding of Jake Peralta and Amy Santiago," the voice of the officer Jake managed to convince to officiate the fake ceremony rises into the air when she takes her place in front of him. He'd asked Holt to do it but for some reason, his captain declined, claiming he wouldn't take part in such a childish masquerade.

She shoots him a shy smile, making his own beam grow wider and his heart warms up in his chest.

He knows this is not a real ceremony but damn, do their names sound right when they're put together – so much so that Jake can't help but wish this was real.

Maybe not the whole 'getting married' thing. But them __dating__.

 _"_ _ _Jake, you've spent 2000$ on a fake wedding – don't tell me you don't have feelings for Amy again." He remembers Charles's words from a few nights ago, during the bachelor's party his best friend insisted on throwing for him despite Jake's insistence this was not a real wedding and thus he didn't need it.__

 _"_ _ _I did it for Bruce!" he denied at the time, although even back then he already knew this was a lie and his colleague was right. He still liked –__ likes _ _– her. She was standing across the room as she and the other ladies of the Nine-Nine had joined them in the bar by the end of the night, looking beautiful with a playful smile plastered across her face that somehow grew wider when their eyes met and he let out a sigh.__

 _"_ _ _Okay, I might have been thinking about asking her out for a while, and then ended up asking her to fake-marry me instead," he admitted as he brought his gaze back on Charles.__

 _ _His friend only grinned in return.__

 _"_ _ _I knew it!"__

"I believe you prepared your own vows?" Officer Lou's voice takes Jake out of his reverie. The man's words instantly make his heart race in his chest and he looks around the place again. His eyes wander around for a beat, setting on all the details of the wonderful venue Amy managed to put together in the small amount of time he left her to take care of everything.

Even as they're standing here together, he still can't quite believe she agreed on doing him such a huge favor, to be honest.

 _"_ _I kind of did something stupid." He brought his chair next to hers so that he could talk in whispers on the day after he received The Letter, about two weeks prior to this moment._

 _"_ _ _What did you do this time?!" He saw her eyes grow bigger and the horror showing on her face.__

 _ _He let out a sigh before speaking again. This was going to be embarrassing – he knew it. But it was a chance he couldn't miss, and she was the only person he could think of that could help him.__

 _ _(She was the only person he__ _wanted_ _ _to do this with.)__

 _"_ _ _Well, there was this article we read with Sophia, about a couple who invited a celebrity to their wedding and they showed up with a very expensive gift." His mouth quirked up slightly in a nostalgic smile as he recalled the events that would lead to the question he was about to ask Amy. Even though he didn't – and doesn't – have any feelings for her anymore, Jake had to admit he and Sophia had a lot of fun together when they were in a relationship. "And I don't know who got the idea – probably me, though – but we were quite drunk and decided to do the same with Bruce Willis, and–…"__

 _ _Amy cut him before he could go on with his little story. "Wait. You and Sophia were planning to get married?!"__

 _ _His eyes grew bigger in shock, and he quickly dismissed her assumptions. Of course they didn't mean it seriously!__

 _"_ _ _What?! No!"__

 _"_ _ _So why would you send a wedding invite? I mean, there's literally 0 chance he would have answered you, but what would've you guys done if he did?"__

 _"_ _ _We were drunk!" Jake tried to defend himself – he could hear the judgment in Amy's voice and didn't like it too much. "Obviously we didn't think things through. I guess we would've just thrown a fake wedding or something." Actually, he didn't guess – he__ knew _ _that's what they would have done, as it was what he was about to ask__ her _ _to do now that Sophia was out of the picture. "Because here's the thing: he did reply. And said he's gonna come." He felt his heart warm up in his chest with the words, still barely believing his idol agreed on attending his wedding.__

 _ _(Fake-wedding, actually. But this was just some unimportant detail.)__

 _"_ _ _He did what?!" Amy gasped.__

 _"_ _ _He RSVP'd to our invite."__

 _ _He handed her the letter – he'd brought it with him, knowing even before he let her in on everything that she wouldn't believe him otherwise. After all, it took him reading through it__ _three_ _ _times before actually acknowledging this was all legit.__

 _"_ _ _But as you know," he went on as Amy was thoroughly reading through the piece of paper, "Sophia and I broke up a while ago now. I can't really call and ask her to go through with it and fake-marry me so that we can meet him…"__

 _"_ If _ _he was really gonna show up in the first place." She still sounded skeptical but Jake needed more than that to lose his enthusiasm.__

 _"_ _ _He would've! And he will. If I manage to make this wedding happen…" He grinned at her knowingly as he talked.__

 _ _Amy immediately understood he had something in mind. "What are you gonna do?"__

 _ _His beam grew wider, more playful – although he was being very serious.__

 _"_ _ _Well, Amy Santiago… how does becoming Amy Peralta for a night sound to you?"__

 _"_ _ _What?"__

 _ _He pondered for a second about getting down on his knees, but finally opted for something simple. "Will you fake-marry me?" he only asked, then.__

 _"_ _ _Excuse me?!"__

 _"_ _ _Please?" he pleaded. He could tell Amy wasn't too enthusiastic about his offer. "I really wanna meet him! It's not every day you get the chance to meet your idol. I'd do it for you if that boring crossword guy you admire so much said he was gonna come to your wedding!" He pouted like a child.__

 _"_ _ _His name's Will Shortz, and he's not boring." Amy crossed her arms above her chest. Maybe insulting her wasn't the best way to convince her to help him, Jake realized.__

 _"_ _ _If you say so. Anyways I'll pay for everything," he tried to coax her with something else. "I'll even let you keep the gift if he comes with one. I mean, depending on what it is…" He allowed his mind to wander off for a second, thinking about whatever Die Hard merch Bruce Willis could bring to his wedding. He quickly chased the thought away to focus back on the current topic.__

 _"_ _ _All you'll have to do is help me plan the whole thing."__

 _"…_ _ _And marry you."__

 _"_ Fake _ _-marry me! It won't be an official ceremony, obviously. Think about it as…" Jake paused for a beat to think, then his eyes suddenly lighted up. "A toit night of partying with Bruce Willis! How cool does this sound?!"__

 _ _He caught how Amy's lips curved up into a slight smile at that, and it made him smile too. She remained quiet for a while, probably weighing her options.__

 _ _It felt like an eternity to Jake.__

 _"_ _ _When is this wedding supposed to happen?" she asked, making his beam grow wider in victory – if only for a moment, as he quickly remembered the date he and Sophia wrote on the invite.__

 _ _Amy wasn't going to like it.__

 _"_ _ _May 15th," he mumbled the words without looking at her.__

 _"_ _ _What did you say?"__

 _"_ _ _May 15th," he said it more clearly this time.__

 _"_ _ _May 15th as in, next Spring?"__

 _"_ _ _No. May 15th as in, in two weeks…"__

 _ _He prepared for the worst as he glanced back up at his colleague and friend.__

 _"_ _ _TWO WEEKS?!" There it was.__

 _"_ _ _This is why I'm asking__ you _ _!__ _"_ _ _he tried to defend himself. She truly was the only person he knew would be able to pull off something like this in such a short amount of time.__

 _ _Jake waited for a few seconds in heavy silence for Amy to say something –__ anything _ _– as a response. It took her a moment, but she eventually let out a sigh.__

 _"_ _ _Okay."__

 _ _With that, Jake released the breath he didn't even know he was holding.__

As he keeps looking at the people all seated in front of them while thinking about what brought them here and now, Jake doesn't have another choice but to admit Amy was right to be skeptical back then. Bruce Willis still is nowhere to be seen, among the small crowd of their friends and colleagues. And even though some part of him is disappointed, he's also somehow relieved.

"Nah, it's okay. We can skip this part." He brings his gaze back on Lou as he answers his question. No need to embarrass himself with a speech he hasn't prepared if the _one_ person who doesn't know this ceremony is fake isn't here. It's well known Jake's not good with emotions – he would most likely ridicule himself, then, if he tried to come up with a fake declaration of love to the woman he actually _does_ like but she doesn't know.

It would be too awkward.

Amy shouts him a questioning look when his eyes fall onto her again.

"He's not here yet," Jake whispers, nudging in the crowd's direction to emphasize his words. "We don't have to pretend we're in love or something."

"Oh," she simply lets out. He swears for a second there she looks a little disappointed but he doesn't have the time to linger on that thought too long as the officer talks again.

"Well, okay. It's time for the ring bearer now then, I guess?" Officer Lou seems taken off-guard by this sudden change of plan too.

On cue, Charles immediately stands up, as if he's been waiting for this from the moment the fake-ceremony started. He hands both Jake and Amy their cheap rings with a huge grin and a thumbs-up before taking back his seat. Jake rolls his eyes as he offers Amy a playful look. She smiles in return.

"Do you, Amy Santiago, take Jake Peralta to be your husband?"

"I do." She gently puts the ring on his left hand's finger and for a moment, as he carefully watches her do, Jake forgets all of this isn't real. His heart starts beating faster in his chest. He can feel his whole body warm up at the touch of Amy's hand holding his to keep him still as she glides in the little piece of cheap jewellery.

All of it feels like a dream, but not the nightmares he sometimes gets about weddings. For once, as he's here with Amy in front of their precinct and he's hit with a new wave of affection for his colleague, it makes him think he might want to have a real wedding someday finally, he who's usually afraid he'll never find the love of his life or worse, will end up like his parents in a failed marriage.

At this moment, he doesn't care about Bruce Willis and whether or not he made it to this fake ceremony.

When he eventually looks up at her, Jake's pretty sure his eyes are shining as bright as the fairy lights Amy put up above their heads. The smile she's still wearing on her face is somehow shy, now. It's full of sincerity, though. There's also new glow inside her pupils he can't quite decipher.

All he knows though is that here, standing in front of him in the dark of this beautiful mid-May night and surrounded by so much light, she looks absolutely stunning.

"And do you, Jake Peralta, take Amy Santiago to be your wife?"

"I do. I do." The words are out naturally when it's his turn to put the ring on Amy's finger.

"You're married. You may now kiss the bride."

This time, Jake doesn't look around to make sure Bruce Willis is here before taking a step forward. He doesn't think about the possibility to skip that moment as well, if the actor's not there. All his attention is focused on Amy, and only Amy, whose eyes seem glued on him too as she acts as if she's gonna meet him halfway.

All of this feels very romantic and Jake forgets this kiss isn't really __real__.

He's already closing his eyes with his heart pounding in his chest with the anticipation of discovering what the lips of the woman he's pined for for so long tastes like when a sudden noise forces them to draw away in surprise and he opens his eyes again. His mouth opens wide as he stares at the person who just came in, his hands falling from Amy's waist to his sides.

He can't believe it. Right in front of him is standing his idol.

Bruce Willis made it to his (fake) wedding.

"Welcome to the party, pal!" The man winks at him knowingly and just like that, the moment between him and Amy is gone.

* * *

"I can't believe Bruce Willis is at my wedding!"

It didn't take long after the actor's grand entrance for everyone to head to Shaw's, where the rest of the party is taking place. With their guests fake-congratulating him and Amy for their supposed union, Jake actually hasn't had the chance to talk to his idol yet. The man is standing across the room and talking to one of the police officers there while Jake's watching them from afar.

His heart is pounding with excitement in his chest. He still has a hard time realizing this is all happening __for realz__ – Bruce Willis is here, all flesh and bones and standing only a few feet away from him.

" _ _Fake__ wedding," Amy snaps in return. The tone of her voice is a little harsh. It makes Jake turn his full attention towards her. He frowns when he meets her eyes – ever since the ceremony ended, she's seemed distant with him, like something switched between them after they got interrupted right before they kissed.

( _ _Fake__ kissed, Jake corrects himself, even though he wishes it had been real too.)

He opens his mouth to ask what's going on but Amy beats him at it. "I'm gonna get a drink."

She leaves before he has the chance to say anything. He watches her go for a beat, as confused as ever. For a second, he considers following her to have a real conversation and figure out what's wrong with her but eventually decides against it. It's clear from the way she's acting she doesn't want to talk to him for some reason, so he doesn't want to bother her.

He brings his attention back to Bruce Willis instead and his heart starts racing faster when he finds he's now all alone and checking his phone. This would be Jake's chance to go to him. Yet he doesn't move, completely frozen in place. Every time he got the chance to meet one of his idols, it somehow always turned horrible – he pantsed 5 Knicks players and coaches, got a restricted order from Taylor Swift and, more recently, Jimmy Brogan turned out to be a homophobe.

No need to say Jake's a little afraid of what might come out of his encounter with his ultimate hero, then. He can't help but wonder if this wasn't a terrible idea he got in the end.

Maybe people are right and you should never meet your idol.

"What are you doing, weirdo?" A voice suddenly takes him out of his spiralling thoughts. When he looks away from the actor, he sees Gina is standing by his side.

She's watching him with a judgmental look in his eyes.

"I'm freaking out!" he admits in a whisper as he glances at Bruce Willis, still standing across the room. "What if I mess it up and he hates me?"

Gina shrugs. "I don't know." She doesn't seem to care much about his friend's worries. Instead, she hands him a folded piece of paper she was carrying with her. "Anyways, stop staring at him like a stalker and read this. It's hilarious."

Jake frowns as he opens it and immediately recognizes Amy's favorite font, as well as her signature 'single-spaced' writing style.

"What's this?" he asks as he looks up at Gina.

"Amy wrote down vows for your fake wedding." She grins in mockery.

In his chest, Jake's heart misses a beat at the words.

"Oh." He's unable to say more.

He and Amy didn't really talk about this particular topic of their wedding vows while planning the fake wedding (Jake mostly avoided it as much as he could), thus he didn't know she had something prepared. Knowing her though, he should have seen it coming. Now that he knows, and as he stares at the piece of paper that seems to be filled with a lot of thoughtful words, he can't help but feel bad for simply skipping that part earlier. In the end, because of him, she did all of this for nothing.

She's been so helpful for these past two weeks, doing all of this for __him__ and his weird ideas, and this is how he thanked her… He can definitely see why she'd be upset now.

Jake is so curious about what Amy wrote about him in those fake vows that he doesn't even think to ask Gina how she got them. She probably stole them anyways. Plus, when he eventually looks up again, he can see he's all alone as the woman apparently left his side without a word. It doesn't bother him – this actually allows him to go find a quiet booth where to sit and go through the piece of paper without being disturbed.

This warm feeling he's well acquainted with by now and kept creeping upon him a little more each day since she accepted to play his fake future bride, this same feeling he felt growing stronger than before as he was watching her join him on the podium or when they were about to kiss before getting interrupted, suddenly takes over him again as he reads her vows.

They're beautiful and heartwarming, yet also funny, and somehow they ring true to Jake's heart, filled with __real__ and compelling anecdotes. So much so that Jake can't help but wonder if Amy's __that__ good at faking it or if maybe – just __maybe__ – she might be feeling the same as he does towards her.

If maybe she might still like him too.

 _ _You make me laugh.__

The image of her hand wrapped around his as she put on the ring on his left finger or the anticipation that came with finally getting to kiss her to seal their fake union come rushing back to his mind and very unexpectedly, as he thinks about all of this and her wedding vows he just read, Jake finds himself wishing Bruce Willis would have never shown up and ruined the moment between them.

He looks around to see if he can see her as he feels the sudden urge to talk to her. She doesn't seem to be somewhere inside the bar, and for a moment Jake worries that she just left.

(He wouldn't blame her if she did, but would definitely blame __himself__ for letting yet another chance at telling her how he feels pass him by.)

"Cake?" he gets interrupted again in his trail of thoughts by one of the bartenders who came to offer him a piece of the cake Amy and he chose for the wedding.

Or rather, the cake Amy surprised him with.

 _"_ _ _Jeremy, did you make that cake that I called you about?" He remembers her smug smile as they were at the caterer's shop. He shot her a curious glance but Amy remained mysterious.__

 _"_ _ _Yes, I wasn't entirely sure if you were joking or not, but…" said Jeremy trailed off as he took out the cake and Jake gasped when the man put it on the counter in front of them.__

 _"_ _ _A Nakatomi Plaza cake? The groom is on a licorise hose!" he gushed over his friend's surprise. If he wasn't already starting to get aware of his renewed feelings for her, this would have definitely been the moment he would have been hit with them as a wave of fondness took over his whole body as he stared at the gift she made him in awe. Next to him, Amy was smiling very proudly.__

 _ _As he turned to her with literal stars shining inside his eyes, it was hard to contain his will to just go and kiss her with gratefulness.__

"No, thanks." Even though it looks absolutely delicious and Jake's been dreaming about eating it for the past week now, he refuses the plate the man offers him and stands up – he's got more urgent matters to take care of first. Like, finding Amy and finally talk to her.

Tell her how he wishes they could be in a _real_ relationship and not just fake getting married together. Ask her out on a date.

"Hey, have you seen Amy?" he rushes towards his group of friends standing in a circle near the bar. It's only when they turn around to look at him that he spots Bruce Willis among them, in the middle of a conversation with Captain Holt. Jake suddenly freezes as he stares at the man with his mouth half-open in shock.

For a minute there, with his whole mind focused on Amy, he completely forgot about his idol being here.

"Your wife, I suppose?" The actor is the one who answers him with a smile. "I think I saw her leave through the back door earlier. She hasn't come back yet."

This is all too surreal for Jake to process it properly – Bruce Willis talking to him, referring to Amy as his __wife__ …This is both the best and weirdest moment of his entire life.

"I think congratulations are in order, though. We haven't met yet." He shoves his hand in his direction for him to shake. Jake remains still, staring at the hand. He's dreamed about meeting Bruce Willis since he was a child and this is his chance to finally talk to him but yet, as his gaze switches towards the door where the man told him Amy left, he can't help but think he has to go.

He closes his eyes for a second, weighing his options one last time before letting out a sigh and staring the actor deep in the eyes.

"I can't believe I'm gonna say this but… Not now, Bruce, I'm sorry." He then rushes towards the back door without waiting for an answer.

He can't believe he just bailed on him to chase after Amy.

As he passes the door and finds her sitting at a table outside (he didn't even know Shaw's had a terrace – and a beautiful one at that, surrounded with fairy lights), Jake knows he made the right choice. A soft smile comes curving up the corners of his mouth when she looks up at the sound of the door closing behind him and their eyes meet.

Her face is surrounded by some kind of glow coming from the moon and the lights above her head, and her dress appears brighter than ever in the dark of the night, and she looks absolutely __stunning__.

His heart misses a beat in his chest.

"What are you doing here?" Amy asks when Jake takes a seat in front of her, clearly confused.

"People were starting to wonder why I was drinking without my wife. I heard some wondering if you'd already gotten sick of me," he teases.

It makes her chuckle lightly before she quickly falls serious again as she stares deep into his eyes.

"I'm sorry for disappearing. I just… needed some fresh air." She looks away for a beat. "And I didn't want to get in the way of you meeting Bruce Willis. I owe you an apology, by the way. I never thought he'd really show up. How is he?" Her smile is soft when she brings her gaze back onto him.

Jake scratches the back of his neck in a nervous tic as he tells her the truth. "I don't know… I bumped into him while I was looking for you but I didn't stay to chat as I needed to find you first."

Amy's eyes grow bigger with this revelation. "You ditched Bruce Willis to come find me?!" She seems stunned.

"Yeah." Jake shrugs.

He doesn't want to dwell too much on it right now. He takes the piece of paper Gina gave him earlier out of his pocket and hands it to her.

"Gina gave me this," he says shyly.

She doesn't need to look at it long to recognize it. "Oh," is the only word that escapes her mouth as she grabs it.

"I'm so sorry I skipped that part. I didn't know you had something planned, and obviously __I__ didn't plan anything so I didn't want to embarrass myself."

"I get it." Amy offers him what Jake interprets as some kind of sad smile. "It's hard to come up with reasons why you love a person on the spot when you actually don't like them."

She sounds a little… defeated?!

"That's not it, though." Jake decides to play the sincerity card. This is why he came here, after all. Why he chose her over Bruce Willis. Because he doesn't want to make the same mistake he did when he first realized he had feelings for her and wait until it's too late to act on it. It makes Amy look up at him with curiosity.

"It's actually the opposite. I was afraid you could tell I still like you because of what I would have said."

His heart is pounding in his chest as he waits for a reaction. Amy opens her mouth, as if she's about to say something, but then closes it again.

Then she finally talks. "What?"

"I, uh–… might have been thinking about asking you out, lately. But then this whole… __thing__ happened instead." Jake gestures to the place around them. He lets out a nervous laugh.

In front of him, Amy's smile grows brighter – __fonder__. He takes it as a good sign; it calms him down a little.

(Or at least he hopes it is.)

"Y'know, we're not really fake-husband and fake-wife," she simply answers, though.

It surprises Jake. It's not really what he expected she would say and doesn't quite understand what she means. "What?" It's his turn to get all confused.

"We didn't get to kiss to seal that fake wedding." Amy shoots him a playful, knowing smile.

It makes Jake chuckle. He can feel his heart warm up in his chest, feeling a lot lighter all of a sudden.

"After how hard we worked of this?! This is such a shame. We should repair this right now." He plays along with her, grinning at her.

"We should, yeah."

Jake doesn't need more from her part to close the gap separating them. She meets him halfway, her lips soft against his as nobody's there to interrupt them this time. Amy brings a hand to his cheek to keep him close as they deepen the kiss, and Jake has never felt better about any decision he ever took before than this – he definitely made the right choice when he left Bruce Willis behind.

Because __this__ definitely brings him so much more happiness than any meeting with his hero.

"Well, I guess we're officially fake-married now." His gaze is full of awe when they eventually part and he looks at her.

Amy lets out a happy giggle. "We are."

Jake kisses the grin off her face.

They take the time to stay in this quiet haven a little longer after their shared moment, talking about nothing and everything and how they see things going from here between them. When they finally decide to go inside the bar again, they're surprised to see almost everyone has already left and just the rest of their squad remains.

"Where is everyone?" Amy wonders as she looks around with a curious frown.

"They left. You guys weren't there for your first dance, so…"

"Bruce Willis left too?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. He didn't really like how you ditched him for Amy. Said something about how he did a nice thing by showing up to your wedding and you didn't even pay attention to him."

Jake can see from the corner of his eye how Amy's body tenses. She shoots him an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry you missed your chance at meeting him…"

But he simply offers her a soft, reassuring smile as he thinks about how __right__ her lips felt against his when they kissed earlier, and how full the simple thought of knowing __she likes him back__ makes him feel.

"Nah, it's okay. Was all worth it," he assures. The sincerity with which he says the words actually helps Amy relax.

"Anyways, now that you guys are here, we can leave too. Great fake wedding!" They all say goodbye and as their friends start to scatter around and they're alone again, Amy stops Jake.

"So… see you tomorrow?" she asks, reminding him of the date they planned as they were back on Shaw's terrace and they both agreed it would be a better place to start whatever this thing between them is with something more traditional than an actual __wedding__.

Jake takes a step in her direction, bringing Amy towards him with his hands curling around her waist.

"Yes. Of course." Before he leans in and presses a tender kiss on her lips.

(If getting to meet Bruce Willis was overwhelming, being able to kiss Amy as he wishes to is even __better__. The whole outcome of this plan they worked on together is much better than whatever he might have imagined for the past two weeks, actually – better of any of the dreams he might have had during that time.)


	149. Yours Are the Sweetest Eyes

**Yours Are the Sweetest Eyes I've Ever Seen**

There are fireworks shooting in the sky on the night Ana Santiago-Peralta is born.

The sound is muffled by the closed windows and Amy's cries, but Jake can still hear them buzzing outside as he does his best to help her go through her sixteenth hour of labour.

"I'm so proud of you, babe. You're doing so well." His encouraging words are met with a painful grunt and a harder squeeze on the hand that's been intertwined with hers for this whole time. Despite his own pain crushing through his knuckles, Jake can't help but smile.

His heart is racing in his chest at the thought that sooner than ever now, he's going to meet his daughter for the very first time. He's going to be a _dad_.

His smile turns into an amused grin when he realizes that the fireworks seem to be in perfect synch with the noises Amy makes – popping into the air when she pushes, then quieting down when she does too, taking a break to breathe, breathe, _breathe_.

"Push," the midwife instructs again and as the future mother obliges dutifully, another festive detonation occurs in the sky.

It's like all of New York – all of America, even – has united tonight to celebrate their upcoming daughter's birth, Jake likes to muse.

(Charles will think the same when later, as he gets to hold his goddaughter for the very first time, he will argue with emotion prickling in his eyes that it all makes sense Ana is born on the 4th of July – nine days before her given due date. She's the daughter of America's Dream Couple, after all.)

(Camila and Victor, otherwise, will say it's all because she's a Santiago and Santiagos have a great sense of timing – arriving early everywhere they go.)

(Jake and Amy, on their part, will simply relish in the happiness of getting to know their baby a few weeks in advance – especially Amy, who was becoming crazy, stuck on desk duty.)

Jake remembers how, as a child, he used to love going to see the fireworks with his parents every 4th of July – when they were still a loving and united family, that is. They'd buy some ice creams first then watch them all together.

He remembers the first time he went to see them with Amy as a couple as well, on a rare 4th of July they were both spending off-duty. They went to their favorite spot in the city to watch them, at the top of their roof back on 397 Barton Street. They laid out a blanket to sit on the floor and wrapped another around their bodies to keep themselves warm – or mostly just Amy –, with a bag of nuts and his girlfriend's head resting on his shoulder as they looked up at the colored-painted sky and their hands intertwined together under the blanket.

(Jake didn't pay much attention to the show the fireworks were offering that night, though. His attention was focused on Amy's face for the whole time. It was glowing with the light each new detonation brought to the otherwise dark and starless night. Fireworks were beautiful, but _she_ was the most beautiful sight, to him – still is, even in moments like this one, all sweaty and exhausted in her not-so-flattering hospital gown after hours of working on delivering their baby.)

He can't help but think about the years ahead too now, and how they'll hopefully make a tradition out of going to see the fireworks together with their daughter as their own little family, on this date that'll become even more special to them from this day on.

(Ana will be 7 when she gets tired of them.

"I made a list of things I want for my birthday," she'll say solemnly to her parents a few weeks prior to the D-Day, and in her chest Amy's heart will burst with pride – she's so organized already.

They raised her so well.

She'll hand them the little piece of paper she wrote in her child's handwriting, then will pause for a beat before voicing out her concerns.

"Also, I don't want fireworks this year," she'll request very seriously. Her parents will be startled at first – then it'll take them everything they have in them not to burst into laughter as a wave of adoration for the little girl will take over them.)

(Somehow though, she'll be very disappointed to learn the whole country hasn't been celebrating her birthday for the past six years.)

(They'll blame Charles for putting such ideas into her head.)

"I can see the head!" The midwife's voice takes Jake out of his meandering thoughts and back to the present. He shoots Amy a knowing look, anticipation and excitement coursing through his veins.

 _This is it_ – the moment they've been waiting for for the past nine months.

(And even before that – from the day he told her he was ready to have kids _with her_.) (Which he is. Right now more than ever he can feel he is.)

With one last push the baby is all out into this world – into _their_ world.

There's a second of silence after that – even the fireworks seem to have quieted down again –, heavy in the air as it lasts for a beat too long, but then the infant starts crying and both Jake and Amy release the breath they were holding. Just like that, the whole atmosphere switches. As if to welcome her, a new detonation occurs outside and brings some more light into the room – it comes shining on the newborn baby.

A few happy tears threaten to fall down Jake's cheeks as the midwife carefully puts their healthy and _oh so beautiful_ daughter into Amy's arms. He doesn't even try to keep them in. Although he's soon to wash them off, when they start to blur his vision as he looks at the wonderful sight his two dream girls offer in front of him. He hasn't felt this blissful since the day Amy told him she was pregnant.

And now their baby's here, real and tangible and absolutely _perfect_.

He exchanges a loving, knowing look with his wife before quickly bringing his gaze onto the infant again. He's unable to look away from her for too long. He loves her so much, already, he thinks as he stares at her in awe. Never would have he guessed before that such a tiny thing could bring the most enormous and magnificent waves of emotions through his body – some he didn't even know he had within.

Yet here she does, shattering his whole world in the best of ways minutes after entering it.

"You wanna hold her?" Amy offers after a little while and of course he agrees.

Ever so carefully, he takes the baby into his arms. A grin forms on his face when her big eyes meet his for the very first time. A new pang of love and blissfulness hits him hard in the chest.

"Welcome to the family, pal," he says softly as he brings his free hand to her rosy chubby cheek and strokes tenderly with the tip of his finger. She's so tiny in his arms; her skin, so soft against his touch.

Through the window, the sky is now painted in an explosion of colors as the fireworks reach their grand finale, but only one matters to Jake at that moment – the blue of his newborn daughter's eyes.


	150. Unbreak My Heart New (1-2)

Jake Peralta doesn't get sad-drunk.

If anything, when it comes to partying, he is the one to lift up the mood with his crazy games and his weird but somehow delicious alcoholic mixes. He tends to be the last man standing – more than once did he find himself sharing one last beer with Gina (or Amy, back _then_ ) as the two of them remember stories about their younger years in the intimacy of the wee hours of the night while everyone else has long gone to sleep.

He who's already very energetic when sober becomes even more excited after a few drinks – in an almost manic, exhilarating way.

Yet here he is, on one of his favorite weekends of the year, one he's been waiting for for weeks now, all alone in Charles' beach house's hot tub. The rest of his squad seems to be having the time of their lives downstairs – he can hear the muffled sound of some music coming from the party room as well as the occasional loud bursts of laughter and cries of joy.

He can't tell how long he's been sitting up here in the quiet of the night, with the moon and stars and a beer for only company and the warm bubbles massaging his body – a much-welcomed contrast to the otherwise very cold winter wind blowing outside – but one thing is certain: he doesn't feel like joining his friends in their current shenanigans just yet.

Right now, he'd rather dwell in his loneliness.

He knows these weekends away are supposed to be void of any spouses or romantic partners of any kind, and yet Jake can't help but think about his past (failed) relationships.

First, there was Amy. Amazing, smart, funny, beautiful, _best friend_ Amy. The reason why he's stuck in such meandering thoughts right now, as she's also the reason why he so suddenly left the party earlier, when she downed her fourth drink and started to get close to everyone. He was too afraid of how he might react if she were to get the sudden idea of getting close to _him_.

It might have been some time now since they parted ways, but still.

It came from some 'mutual agreement' after dating for a little while – they finally gave their story a chance after months of pining and missing out on each other only to come to the realization that it was affecting them too much. They worked better as colleagues.

As (best) _friends_.

He's moved on, now. Or at least he thought so. At least he did so for a while.

When then came Valerie. A sexy name for a just as sexy and awesome girlfriend. Well, ex-girlfriend, he should call her now. The breakup wasn't mutual, this time. Jake endured it rather than agreed to it. She sat him down a few weeks ago – they were about four months into their relationship, back when it happened.

The look in her eyes, the way she sat still with her palms flat on her lap instead of reaching for his own hands told him all he needed to know before she even opened her mouth (with being a cop, he's become very observant of people's body language over the years, a useful skill to use in interrogation): this wasn't going to be some fun and light conversation they were used to have.

And indeed he was right.

"I can't take this anymore," she said with a disapproving shake of her head before she told him she couldn't be with someone who's 'incapable of voicing his emotions.' She'd say the precious _I love you_ to him several times already while he hadn't been able to say it back once. Not that he didn't love her – although maybe it was too soon to assure he was in deep, he could feel in his heart he was slowly, yet very willingly, falling for her.

Still though, he didn't try to contradict her. He didn't try to hold her back either. He didn't say the words she needed to hear. He _couldn't_.

After all, the last time he did, when he blurred it out to Sophia, it ended up with heartbreak too. She ended their relationship as well, no matter what he said or the solutions he tried to come up with to save their relationship.

So Valerie broke up with him – he was sad, of course, but it's been a few weeks now and he's over it, even if he's thinking about her right now. Actually, if he's thinking about her, it's because he's mostly thinking about _Amy_. The one he might not be as over with as he thought he was until then, finally.

He remembers how patient she was with him; how she never pushed anything upon him or complained when she so easily could have, too. How often did they start becoming a little too emotional on a quiet night spent together – never going as far as voicing their love for each other, though (and god knows Jake _did_ love her) – and all he was able to respond was dumb words like 'noice' or 'smort?'

It's not that he didn't have anything to say. On the contrary, he had _a lot_ he could have told her at the time – a lot he maybe _should_ have told her that would have made things different for them and their relationship now. But the fear of messing up again from an outburst of emotion was too strong. The fear of _losing her_ was hitting too hard.

So he did what he does best. He answered in a joking manner while he tried to hide the nervousness in his tone as best as he could.

And Amy never blamed him for it.

Maybe it's because they were friends before becoming lovers. Maybe it's the fact she knew about his past and fears and broken parts. Or maybe it's just who she is, the perfect person who knows how to deal with and more importantly _accepts_ his many issues. Sometimes – even more so recently – Jake wonders how he managed to let things go as they did and let Amy go.

It felt so good when he was with her.

He knows the answer, though. He was a coward.

(They both were, to be honest – paralyzed by the fear and growing pressure weighing upon them as things were starting to get too real, afraid of how big the consequences would be if things were to shatter to pieces between them in the future as they were becoming more and more invested in their relationship. Choosing to part on good terms when they could still be friends seemed like the easiest choice at the time.)

Now Jake isn't sure it was the _best_ choice after all. Maybe they should have tried harder. _Fought_ harder for what they had.

If only he could turn back the clock and be able to tell her then what he's thinking now on this dark and quiet night, with his mind inebriated enough not to lock these feelings away this time…

The sound of the main door opening then closing suddenly shakes him out of his reverie. He turns around to see who's come to disturb him, and a smile forms on his face as he recognizes this is none over than the one person he's been musing about – the one and only Amy Santiago, partially hidden under a huge coat and beanie and looking, as always, utterly adorable – especially with her whole figure surrounded in the glow of the automatic lights that turned on as soon as she put a first step outside.

A rush of warmth, which doesn't come from the warmth of the hot tub he's currently sitting in, takes over him as he watches her.

 _Yep, he's definitely screwed._

"Jake?!" Amy recognizes him too, although she has to squeeze her eyes a little to make out his silhouette – as opposed to her, he's partially hidden in the dark, with the only light surrounding him coming from the tub. She seems a little surprised to realize she's not alone. "What, uh–… what are you doing here?" her voice is hesitant when she asks.

Jake notices the hand she quickly tries to put under her back; catches sight of the small stick she's holding between her fingers that she's trying (and failed) to hide. The sight of it makes him frown: he doesn't need any confirmation to understand she sneaked out of the party still happening downstairs to smoke a cigarette. Which she only does when she's stressed out.

And this is clearly not supposed to be a stressful weekend.

"And here I thought somebody had finally noticed I've been gone for like, the past half-hour," he jokes, which makes Amy chuckle. A puff of cold air forms in front of her face as the small laugh escapes her mouth. Jake grins, content – and somewhat relieved – to see that despite everything that happened between them, despite their huge history, it's still so easy for him to make her laugh.

(He can't retain the slight pang of pain that takes over his heart too, as he remembers this is what actually signed the beginning of their relationship; the point of no-return of Amy letting him know with her own words she liked him too. _He makes me laugh._ )

The amusement is soon replaced with seriousness though when he talks again. "You okay?" He nods in direction of her left hand and the cigarette to emphasize his words. He's too far away to actually see it, plus they're hidden under her beanie, but Jake is pretty sure Amy's ears are turning redder in the beginning of an (embarrassed, probably) blush right now.

"Yeah, I just, uh–… it's nothing." She averts her gaze as she speaks.

It's clear she doesn't want to dwell on the topic, so he lets it go despite his piquing curiosity at what might have triggered her. She doesn't owe him any explanation, after all.

She takes a few steps in his direction, until she's standing in front of him with her hands on the edge of the tub and her eyes staring deep into his, the beautiful brown irises shining in the night.

"Are you?" she asks in the softest, most caring voice.

Jake's heart flips in his chest. "Yeah." And he is, _for realz_ , when she's here with him.

(At least part of him is. The other is aching for more, craving for past intimacy – both on a spiritual and physical level – he can't have anymore. For instance, if they were still together, he could reach for her and grab her by the waist, then kiss her complaint that _you're getting me all wet_ away. He'd look at her with a smug grin when they'd part and would joke with daring, knowing eyes – ' _You're Getting Me All Wet,' title of your sex tape_.

Needless to say he now tries to avoid as best as he can that kind of banter he used to like so much – even before they started dating – with her.)

Silence falls upon them after that, calm and soothing – not the least awkward. It's the type of silence they could easily surround themselves with back when they were still together, the type of silence a guy like Jake, who always has something to say and can't seem to shut up, learned to appreciate, and which took them awhile to find the confidence to let fall upon them again afterwards.

"Oh, you can smoke your cigarette if you feel the need to." He suddenly remembers why Amy came here in the first place. "I don't mind."

"Thanks. But actually, I don't want to anymore." Her face lights up with a smile that's full of sincerity.

A new beat passes, during which she seems to consider something, lips slightly parted as it looks like she wants to say something but then she must change her mind. He catches her body shiver with the cold and she brings her hands to her arms, stroking vividly to warm herself up.

"Wanna come back downstairs?" she offers.

Jake is good here, and doesn't feel like leaving just yet. He doesn't want to face his friends' questions about what he was doing, alone for so long.

But he doesn't want to leave Amy's side either. Well, he mostly doesn't want to not be just the two of them anymore.

"Maybe in a bit," he tells her, then. "I want to finish my beer first."

She seems to hesitate again – she probably feels bad about leaving him to drink alone. But then another rush of cold runs down her spine – more than anyone Jake knows how easily cold she can get. (She used to tell him he was a great personal space heater before snuggling further against his side, back when they spent most of their nights together.) It's probably what makes up her mind.

"Okay. See you, then." She waves at him and walks towards the closed door. He watches as she presses the door's knob once, two times without anything happening.

She turns in his direction. "Do you have the key?"

"Nope. Why? The door wasn't closed when I came in." Jake frowns.

"It wasn't when I came in either. But now it is." He can see the panic of being locked outside, in the _cold_ , starting to show on her face before she puts her full attention back on the door. She rings at the bell – several times – but nothing happens. She knocks on the door too, calls her friends' names. All in vain.

Jake doesn't want to freak her out more than she already seems to be – a feeling increasing with each new passing second without an answer from the rest of their squad – but he knows nobody's gonna come for them. Nobody came for _him_ in all the time he spent alone; plus, they can still make out some music coming from downstairs, which means it's definitely too loud for the others to hear their calls. They must be too invested in whatever game they're currently playing to notice or care. Maybe they will when they decide to go to sleep.

Which doesn't seem to be anytime soon.

"I can't stay out here," Amy complains, banging on the door one more time.

She's _fully_ panicking right now. Being still a little drunk probably doesn't help her thinking straight. _At least they're not locked inside a room,_ Jake muses. He knows how claustrophobic she is.

Her cheeks are red and her whole body is shaking now, he can see when she shoots him a pleading look, hopeful he might have a brilliant idea in mind to get themselves ( _her_ ) out of here.

"Hey, it's okay," he says in a soothing voice, wearing a soothing smile. "I'm sure someone will eventually come and open the door."

" _Eventually_?!"

Okay, he's not off with a great start in his _let's try to calm Amy down_ project.

"You can just come in the hot tub in the meantime," he comes up with a new tactic, then. "It's really nice in here. And _hot_ ," he insists on the last word. "And I have an extra beer I'd be happy to share."

He raises an eyebrow in understanding but all Amy does is let out a sigh in return.

"I'm not wearing my swimsuit," she retorts. Yet she still leaves her spot near the door and goes back to him.

Jake pauses for just a second to consider his answer before he carefully lets it out. "And? It wouldn't be the first time I'm seeing you in your underwear. Plus I won't look anyway, and you can't see anything in here!" He hopes he didn't go too far with his offer (being drunk usually makes him think even less before talking than he usually does), but he couldn't think of another option and Amy's body is still shivering.

"I don't know…" she sounds hesitant.

"C'mon, Ames, you're _freezing_!" He moves inside the tub to get closer to her, grinning when he finds himself in front of her with his eyes staring at her. "The water's really good." He amusedly splashes her a little to make her feel it and hopefully help her change her mind. He wouldn't like her to get sick because she stood in the cold for too long.

She takes a step back, surprised by his unexpected gesture, yet a smile forms on her face as she does so. "Stop! I don't want to get it wet!" She looks down at her coat.

The words are out of Jake's mouth before they even form in his head first – like a natural reaction to her own instance.

"' _I Don't Want to Get it Wet' – title of your sex tape!_ "

And just like that, the atmosphere, which was rather light and agreeable until then, switches to an awkward silence as Amy stares at him. At that moment, Jake hates his drunken self for this sudden, unwelcomed outburst. Amy is watching him with her mouth half-open, as if she doesn't know how to react to this. For a second he thinks he can see her eyes darkening a little in the night as her mind wanders off to somewhere else but it's gone too soon for him to be sure – for him to understand what it means.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have–…" Jake apologizes. She dismisses him, offering him a reassuring smile once the surprise has left her eyes.

"No, it's okay. It was actually a good one." Her smile grows bigger – more playful, this time. It's all it takes for Jake to calm down a little and stop beating himself up too much. "Anyway, you're right. The water _is_ good. I think I'll take you up on that offer to join you in."

With that, without waiting for any reaction on his part, Amy takes off her shoes, then her coat and beanie. She carefully puts them on a chair beside her before reaching for the jacket underneath.

Jake turns his head away to give her some privacy. Even though he tries to think about something else, eyes focused on the beer inside his hand, he can't help but be very aware of the fact that Amy is undressing in his back. His heartbeat quickens in his chest as he keeps looking down.

Eventually, she joins him inside the hot tub. She lets out a contented sigh once she's all settled in front of him. When he brings his gaze back on her, he can see her eyes are closed to better appreciate the warmth that's probably overcoming her right now, coming from the hot water. It takes away all the remaining worries Jake might have had about his idea.

It's clear to him she finds he was right, now that she's here.

"What?" Amy frowns when she opens her eyes again and meets with his own.

"Told you you'd enjoy it." He shoots her a smug grin, to which Amy answers with a shake of her head and splashes him in the face.

"Shut up."

And just like that, everything goes back to normal between them as they're bonding again.

It's all laughter and breeziness between them for a while, then. They drink their beers and share stories with a smile plastered on their faces the whole time, _just like old times_. Jake's mind is a little blurry with dizziness, which he doesn't know comes from the several drinks he downed mixed with the steam of the hot tub, or the sheer happiness Amy is making him feel.

It's most likely a mix of both.

He doesn't feel sad-drunk anymore – he's rather feeling _blissful_ -drunk right now.

(And very much still in love with the woman sitting across from him.)

It's all laughter and dizziness between them until the characteristic sound of Jake's phone buzzing to warn him that he received a new text chimes in. He considers ignoring it at first and just go on with his conversation, but then realizes it might be one of their friends who finally noticed their absence. No matter how much he likes being alone with Amy, he can't pass on the opportunity of someone maybe coming to their 'rescue.'

For _her_. Because even though she doesn't seem cold anymore, he guesses she'd still rather be inside, where she first intended to go back to.

He gets closer to her as he reaches for the device, put down on a chair by her side.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Amy teases when he's about to grab it.

Her words make him look up at her curiously. "Why?"

She lets out a small laugh before further explaining herself. "You're not really good with phones and water." She shoots him an amused, knowing look – it doesn't take long for Jake to understand what she's talking about. He remembers well that one time his phone fell down her toilet on a weekend he was spending at her place.

He tried to play it discreet, but she caught him going through her cabinets in search of some rice and he had no other choice than to come clean.

"That's a low blow, Santiago. It happened _once_ ," he says in mock-annoyance, although he can't help but laugh along with her.

In his chest, his heart warms up a little more than it already usually does in her presence.

"You sure about that?" She doesn't buy it. "Because I remember you telling me it was the third time you were breaking a phone this way."

"Well, what _I_ remember is that it worked very well again the next day."

"You kidding me? I couldn't understand half the texts you sent me at the time because the screen didn't work well anymore and it didn't write all the letters!"

They go on with their little banter for a while, relishing in this memory of what they used to be. It makes Jake completely forget about his text – until Amy reminds him of it, voice and face becoming all serious again after one last shared burst of happy laughter.

"Anyways, sorry. You should check your phone, yeah. What if it's Valerie? Maybe she has something important to tell you." The way she says his ex's name (who she doesn't know is his ex – he thought it'd be weird to talk about it with _her_ ) sounds a little defeated, and Jake swears he can see some sadness come shining inside her eyes for a beat as Amy averts her gaze.

He's drunk, though – he's probably reading too much into it and seeing what he wants to see. He might have feelings for her again, but there's no way she does too.

He scratches the back of his neck in a nervous tic as he answers her. "Yeah, about that… I doubt it's her."

The words make Amy look up at him – if there might have been sadness before, it's long gone now, replaced with confusion. "Why? I know we said it's a no spouses and partners weekend, but you can still text them."

"I know. But that's the thing." He lets out a sigh. "We're not together anymore."

"Oh," is all Amy has to say at first.

A few seconds pass, filled in awkward silence. "I'm sorry." She eventually breaks it again, offering him an apologetic smile.

"It's okay. It's been a few weeks now. I'm over it."

"What happened?"

Jake pauses, not so sure he wants to go over the reasons of his breakup with Amy, of all people.

"Sorry." She must sense his hesitation because she quickly talks again. "Of course you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"I couldn't say 'I love you' back," he surprises himself by blurting it all out. He finds it hard to hold her gaze after that.

"Oh." Here it is again. "And did you? Love her back?"

"Yeah. I wasn't _deeply in love with her_ or something but, y'know…" He still can't look at her.

"I'm so sorry. It sucks she broke up with you because of this."

With his eyes down, Jake can see the hand that's laid next to his twitch under the water, as if Amy's considering to bring it on top of his in a comforting gesture.

She must change her mind eventually, because in the end she keeps it where it is.

(His body aches for her touch.)

"Nah, she's right." He looks up to stare into her eyes, a sad smile forming on his features. "I _am_ incapable of voicing my emotions. I mean, I was in love with you too and yet I never told you." The confession is out before he can realize the weight of what he just said. When he does, it's too late to take back the words.

(At least he didn't tell her about how he _still_ loves her, he tries to reassure himself as best as he can.)

His heart is literally pounding in his chest as Jake waits for Amy to react in any way, but she simply watches him with her eyes wide and her mouth half-open.

"You… you loved me?!" She seems startled when she finally finds her voice but there's something else shining inside her eyes – like she's _in awe_ , too?

Her response actually boosts his confidence a little. Or maybe it's the alcohol still coursing through his veins, which already made him say stuff he wouldn't have had the guts to say otherwise. This is why he doesn't back away from the truth. "Of course I did. And maybe… maybe if I _did_ tell you when it still mattered, we wouldn't have broken up too."

He lowers his gaze again, now that the bomb is all out.

He's pretty sure it's gonna blow up in his face but he _had_ to say those words. Let her know how he still feels about her.

"Well, maybe if _I_ had told you too…" Amy trails off – and it's actually nothing he had prepared himself for. She's staring at him when he brings his gaze back on her.

The explosion does happen, but it's one of bliss rather than desperation after being rejected like he thought he would be, and it takes over his whole heart.

 _Amy Santiago loved him._

And if he's to believe her words, it seems like she regrets them breaking up as well.

(It's still a bittersweet feeling, though. Because some questions remain. Does _she_ still love him too? Would she be willing to start over?)

It takes Jake a few seconds to realize how close to him Amy is now sitting as he slowly falls down from his high. He catches how her eyes keep switching between his own and his lips, feels how the hand she was so hesitant to put on his has now found its (rightful) place on top of his. The touch of her skin against his still manages to send shivers running down his spine.

Their faces are only inches away, Amy's shoulder brushing against his as she keeps getting closer, eager and a silent understanding shining in her eyes.

With anticipation running through his veins, Jake thinks about how he's about to feel what Amy's lips taste like again, after all this time.

It seems like he got an answer to his internal questions, after all – because why else would she be currently leaning towards him and about to _kiss_ him if it weren't because she loves him back?

Because she wants to give their story another chance?

" _OUTCH!"_

Their mouths are _this_ close to brushing and their eyes are closed when the sound of someone squealing, then shouting in pain after seemingly being hit startles them away from one another.

"Charles?!" Jake recognizes his best friend's high-pitched voice coming from the inside of the room. (Although right now, he could very well consider him his _worst enemy_ for having interrupted such a moment between him and Amy.) He sees him, as well as another silhouette he thinks he recognizes as Rosa, quickly bend down as they try to hide under a window.

"Don't mind us and go back to kissing!" he hears their colleague shout from inside the house as only answer.

Jake would _love_ to do so. But as he brings his attention back on Amy, he can tell the moment between them is gone.

"I'm sorry. This was a bad idea." She simply says before drawing further away from him as she starts heading outside the tub, grabs her stuff and goes towards the door. "Charles, open up!" she then demands as she knocks and, after a few seconds pass and she threatens him a little, not amused by his 'prank,' the man obliges.

Jake watches while her figure slowly disappears away from him when she walks up to her room without a look back in his direction.

Finally, everything blew up in his face indeed – and even more spectacularly than he first imagined it would.

"So, are you guys getting back together?!" Charles takes him out of his dark thoughts when he joins him outside. A hopeful grin is lighting up his whole face.

Jake lets out a sigh. "Not now, Charles." Before he leaves the place as well without further explanation.

The door to Amy's room is closed when he passes by it, and for a second he considers knocking – they can't leave things as they are and need to talk about what (almost) happened. But then he resigns himself – he's not so sure he could go through another heartbreak tonight. So he simply locks himself in his own room.

He doesn't get much sleep that night, staring at the ceiling with his eyes wide open and his mind going through the previous events over and over.

It's barely eight on the next morning when a weak knock on his door wakes him up after he eventually managed to fall into slumber. Some light is coming through the curtains of his window as the sun has set in the sky, and other than this one sound of someone knocking at his door, the full house seems to be quiet. He lets out a grunt when he slowly, very unwillingly tucks himself out of the warm covers of his bed. He curses whoever has come to disturb him as he reaches for the door – it's probably Holt asking if he'd be up for a invigorating morning walk on the beach.

(He should know he most definitely _isn't_.)

"Amy?!" Jake lets out her name in a startled voice when he opens the door and finds himself face-to-face with his ex-girlfriend. His heart comes breaking again in his chest as the simple sight of her manages to bring back what he tried so hard to forget the previous night: the memory of their little conversation in the hot tub, the brush of her breath against his face as they _almost kissed_.

"Hey." She offers him a shy smile. "Brought you some Aspirin and a glass of water. I thought you might need it." She shows him what's inside her hands. Jake's head is aching indeed, but not really from the hangover of having drunk too much – even though he did. But he doesn't tell her that.

"Thank you." He simply grabs the glass and medicine. For a while they stand in front of each other in awkward silence, until Amy clears her throat.

"Can I… come in? I feel like we should talk."

Even though he doesn't really want to – it's too early for him to function properly, even more so to talk about _feelings_ –, he nods and pushes himself on the side to let her in. He knows she's right, after all. They can't ignore what happened, and the sooner they figure things out, the better.

They both sit on his bed, keeping a reasonable distance between their bodies.

"I'm sorry about last night. I crossed a line," Amy starts and Jake sighs. He already knows where this is going.

"It's okay." He decides to go ahead and say it for her – the heartbreak will hurt less, if the words come from his own mouth. "We were both drunk and got lost in the moment. It's a good thing Charles came in before we could actually _do_ something we would have regretted immediately after. Because we both know this," he points towards the both of them, "can't work romantically, right?"

(Saying it himself still hurts like hell.)

Amy doesn't answer right away. She watches him with her lips slightly parted, these lips Jake wants to kiss so bad despite what he might have just said.

She seems to get lost in her thoughts for a moment. Her head lowers down and he follows her gaze. It fixes on his hand, a few inches away from her own. He remembers with an aching desire for her soft touch how she didn't hesitate to close the gap between their hands the previous night. How she initiated it all.

The atmosphere is heavy between them – full of tension when she brings her eyes onto his again and lets out what sounds like a desperate sight then eventually speaks.

"Right… no 'romantic-stylez' to ever happen between us anymore, uh?" she agrees with a smile, although it looks rather sad and resigned – it resembles nothing like her usual _real_ , beautiful beam.

Something inside of Jake breaks at her mention of the exact same words he himself used, the first night he acknowledged to her he had feelings for her at a time that seems like forever ago now. The outcome here is the quite same, minus the undercover mission and a boyfriend getting in the way: he wishes something could happen between them and yet, just like back then, just like Amy just made it clear, it can't.

It _won't_.

(At least back then, he didn't know what it was, the blissful feeling of being able to call her his _girlfriend_. Now he does. And he misses it.)

"Well, if we both agree…" She clears her throat. Her voice takes him out of his reverie. "I guess I'll see you later? Sorry I woke you up." She stares for a beat too long.

But then she stands up and moves towards the door, and Jake finds himself close behind as he walks her out.

(As he doesn't really want to let her go just yet.)

She reaches for the knob but changes her mind at the last second. She suddenly turns in his direction, watching him with questioning eyes.

"So… we're good, right?"

"We're good," Jake assures with a nod.

"Noice." She smiles, something delicate – although it doesn't fully reach her eyes. It's both amusing and hurtful at the same time, her use of his own catchphrase.

It reminds him of the past.

"Smort," he plays along with her, wearing a genuine smile on his face as he lets the amusement take over the hurt.

The pain is still lingering somewhere inside of him though, but in spite of it, Jake somehow actually feels relieved, too – he'd hate for them to slip even further away than they already had because of the events of the previous night.

He can't picture a life without Amy in it, whether as his girlfriend or just a friend.

So, they're _good._

(Are they really, though?)

After that she turns to face the door again, but Jake acts before he can think. He grabs her wrist before she can make a move; before she can step away from him – he can't let her leave again.

She seems surprised by the unpredicted gesture at first, until his mouth crashes onto her and he can feel her melting in his arms. She lets out a contented moan as she deepens their kiss, her hands tangling into his messy bed hair. Her lips feel the same as they always did in the past, _perfect_ against his own. Yet somehow, it also feels like he's kissing her for the very first time.

Too soon they have to part, although they remain at close distance. Amy's smiling when he looks at her – he's grinning too, so much it almost hurts his cheeks, with his heart racing in his chest.

He can see some confusion shining in there as well, though.

"Sorry, it's just that–… No, we're not good." He explains himself, then. He catches how her smile turns into a frown. "We're far from good. I wasn't _that_ drunk yesterday, and I do think we could work things out." _To hell with their dumb excuses._ "I'm _ready_ to try and make things work – y'know, romantic-stylez. Because I love you."

He says the words so easily, it should probably terrify him – but it doesn't. On the opposite, finally getting to say them – and not in the past tense – feels good.

It feels _right_.

Inside his arms, Amy's smile reappears on her face – bigger, _brighter_. She only answers to his little speech with four words. "I love you too." Before _she_ kisses him this time, more tender now than their first eager exchange, and his heart bursts will blissfulness in his chest.

(When he proposes to her a few years later, having known for a while now she's _the love of his life_ and he never wants to let her go ever again – he did that mistake once, won't do it twice, and Amy seems to agree since she said _yes_ –, Charles can't help but brag about how this is all happening because of him. They're celebrating the engagement at _Shaw's_ when he confesses.

" _I_ 'm the one who locked you out that night you guys went back together," he explains. "With Rosa's help," he's quick to add when the woman shoots him a dark glare.

In response, Amy (exaggeratedly) argues she almost _froze to death_ that night because of him. It makes Jake laugh as he holds her closer to him with his arm wrapped around her shoulder. Despite his _fiancée_ 's words, he can't begin to feel mad at his best friends for coming up with such a plan. It _did_ help to bring them to where they are now, after all.

Ready to get _married_.)


	151. Unbreak My Heart New (2-2)

Amy Santiago doesn't smoke at parties.

She only does so once in a while, when the pressure becomes too much and she needs to relax in some ways. It's a habit she took back in college – things became more stressful then as she was getting closer to entering the real _adult_ life and had to face the choices that come with. She resorted to this method when none of her usual calming techniques would work.

It all started with one of her classmates offering her a cigarette (" _you look like you could use it right now," they said_ ), to which she agreed. She told herself it would be the only time she would give smoking a chance. But she did it again after that – after it worked and calmed her down –, and _again_ , until it became an addiction.

Until the urge to light up a cigarette every time she freaked out too much and nothing else would help her relax became too important to ignore.

She tried to stop but hasn't succeeded yet.

It doesn't help that she works in a very stressful environment where she faces death every day.

So Amy does smoke, but she never smokes at parties. Because parties aren't supposed to be _stressful_. They're supposed to be about friends and fun and having a _great_ time – especially when said parties happen during one of the squad's annual getaways at Charles' beach house. These parties are usually the _best_ , some that she looks forward to every year.

Still here she is, shamefully sneaking out of the party room and out of the house with the precious stick in her hand and a lighter carefully put in the pocket of her warm winter coat. She would like to blame her sudden urge to smoke on Jake, or maybe Charles and his stupid constant need to talk about food, but really, the only person she can blame here is _herself_.

Or rather, her four-drink counterpart, who didn't hesitate to say out loud what she usually manages to keep locked away at the very back of her head.

She doesn't even really know how Charles came to mention something about _chicken fingers_ , of all things. All she remembers is him repeating the word 'finger' too many times for her perverted brain to handle. "You know who has nice, long fingers?" she spilled it out as her mind had gone elsewhere. " _Jake._ " She didn't think before she dropped the bomb – she was too lost in her own thoughts.

It's only when she spotted the look of shock and disgust on her friends' faces that she realized that what she just said was _too much_. She felt her ears and cheeks and neck burn in a blush while she looked around the room, panic coursing wild in her veins. It died down a little when she noticed that Jake wasn't here and thus didn't hear her comment.

The anxiety didn't fully disappear though, as everyone remained silent around her. Only Charles broke it after a little while.

"You're right! Jake has amazing hands," he exclaimed with a grin. He was clearly oblivious to the awkward atmosphere that had fallen upon the room.

This was the last straw for Amy. She needed to get out of here. She needed to have a smoke.

So she left without a word nor a look towards her squad.

The wind is blowing when she takes a first step outside, sending shivers running down her spine. She's wearing gloves but she can still feel the cold burning the skin of her hands as it wraps tighter around the cigarette. Before she can bring it to her mouth, though, she spots a silhouette hidden in the dark of the night.

 _There's someone in the hot tub._

Amy curses under her breath – she hates being caught like this, during one of her most shameful moments.

She squeezes her eyes in order to better see who's there. Her heart misses a beat when she recognizes _him_ – the reason why she's outside right now. "Jake?! What, uh–… what are you doing here?" He's facing her, sitting a few meters away from her in nothing but his swim trunks and a beer in one hand.

Her first reflex is to try and hide the cigarette behind her back so that he can't see it, although she knows she doesn't have to do this.

Unlike Teddy and other past boyfriends, Jake knows about her addiction. He has had for a while.

Plus, he's not even her boyfriend anymore.

"And here I thought somebody had finally noticed I've been gone for like, the past half-hour," he jokes. It's all it takes for Amy's body to relax as she lets out a small chuckle. She can't help but feel a little guilty, too – although she _did_ notice his absence (and even felt _relieved_ about it only mere minutes ago), it's true she, or no-one in the squad for that matter, didn't think about checking on him.

To her defence, Amy imagined he might have gone away to call his girlfriend and thus needed some privacy. She didn't want to go look for him and see if her assumptions were true. She didn't think she could handle the sight of him sitting on his bed with a grin on his face and his eyes full of adoration if she were to catch him in a deep conversation with Valerie.

(Or worse. If she were to walk on him sex-calling her.)

( _Damn_ her mind after four drinks for taking her thoughts to such unsettling places she'd rather not picture in her head.)

It would have been too hurtful.

"You okay?" His question startles her out of her reverie. For a second, Amy worries that he might have read the pain in her eyes (he's always been good at reading her, after all) but then she spots how his own eyes are darting towards the cigarette she's still hiding. Of course he knows what it means, when she goes out to have a smoke.

She can feel her ears burning in the beginning of a blush when she brings her attention back onto him.

"Yeah, I just, uh–… it's nothing." She looks away, unable to hold his intense – _caring_ – gaze on her.

She can't really let him in on what triggered her – can't look him in the eye and confess that _he_ happened.

He, and what he used to make her feel, with these damn nice fingers of his.

(It's not just this, though. It's so much more than the great sex they used to have. It's _everything_. She misses _him_ – all of him, including who _she_ was, when they were together. She loved him, truly and fully, and if she's being true to herself, she never stopped. She never managed to move on. But he has, and everything is going great with his new girlfriend.

So she can't tell him.)

Thankfully for her, Jake doesn't seem like dwelling more on the topic. He doesn't ask her to further explain herself. And Amy's grateful for it – she's not thinking straight enough to come up with an excuse as to what brought her here, in this dark and quiet night.

Despite her first instincts – it might have been a while since they parted ways now, but it's not too often she and Jake find themselves being just the two of them outside of work –, Amy takes a few steps in his direction. Her face softens when she reaches his side and she watches him, all alone in this tub. It's very unlike him to do such things – to leave a party to stay on his own.

This is why she asks, echoing his own previous question and concerns, "Are you?"

"Yeah," he says with a smile.

Amy studies his face for a beat, just to make sure he's telling the truth. She can't bring herself to hold his gaze for too long, though. The way he's staring at her, with such intensity with his whole face glowing in the light of the hot tub, quickly forces her to look down. Her eyes focus on his chest instead.

Which is a bad idea, she soon realizes. Because all her inebriated mind does is make her think about how she wishes she could run her hands through the exposed skin, tracing every muscle there.

But she _can't_. There was a time she could, but not anymore. She was dumb enough to let him go, overwhelmed with her fears and doubts about messing everything up.

"Oh, you can smoke your cigarette if you feel the need to. I don't mind," Jake suddenly breaks the silence that naturally fell upon them. It startles Amy a little, who had completely forgotten about her need to smoke. She looks down at the small stick still wrapped inside her hand – she doesn't feel any urge to light it up overcoming her body as she stares at it.

She notices how her heartbeat has slowed back down to normal, too. She's not stressed out anymore, thus doesn't feel the need to use a cigarette.

All thanks to Jake's soothing presence.

She shoots him a smile. "Thanks. But actually, I don't want to anymore," she tells him sincerely.

But then she realizes she has no excuse to stay here with him anymore either. She doesn't want to leave his side, though. She tries to think about a way to keep their conversation going – something that shouldn't be hard, given how easy it is to talk with him. Until her reason takes over. It's probably best if she just goes back to the rest of their group, even though it means facing them again after the awkwardness she brought earlier with her words.

Jake and she might be friends ( _best_ friends, even, in the sense that no-one else knows and understands her better than he does), he's also still an ex-boyfriend of hers.

An ex-boyfriend she never managed to stop having feelings for when he clearly did. Which sucks – and hurts.

The wind starts blowing again, sending shivers running down her spine with the rush of cold it suddenly brings to her body, and Amy thinks this is her sign.

"Wanna come back downstairs?" she offers, then. She might believe him when he says he's fine, it doesn't mean it pleases her to see Jake alone while everyone else is enjoying their time together.

(She will never tell him that, but she also believes he always livens up a party with his shenanigans. Plus, she thinks that if he comes back down with her, their friends will have the decency not to bring up her comment about his _nice, long fingers_ and make things even more embarrassing than they already are.)

"Maybe in a bit. I want to finish my beer first," he says and Amy hesitates again. Wouldn't she be a bad friend if she just left him like this?!

She's _really_ freezing now, though, in this winter weather, and his beer is still half-full. That's why she eventually chooses to go.

After all, Jake doesn't look too bad nor sad. On the contrary, he's looking at her fondly – which makes her heart melt in her chest.

Yep, it's definitely better if she stays away from him tonight.

"Okay. See you, then," she walks towards the door, her whole body already relaxing at the mere thought of being surrounded with the warmth of the inside of the house again.

The feeling soon turns into frustration when she wraps her hand around the knob and pushes, but nothing happens. She tries again, harder this time, before coming to the realization that the door is closed. It's a little weird, she can't help but think as she turns back into Jake's direction, since it wasn't closed when she first came out.

"Do you have the key?" she asks in a hopeful voice.

"Nope. Why? The door wasn't closed when I came in," he says and the frustration is soon replaced with a slight pang of panic building at the center of her core.

"It wasn't when I came in either. But now it is."

She doesn't wait for a reaction as she brings her attention towards the door. She rings at the doorbell and knocks on the hard wood. She even tries to call her friends' names, but receives no answer from them. The panic keeps growing as seconds pass and she becomes more and more aware of the cold wind hitting her.

It doesn't help her to calm down and think straight – it's quite the opposite, actually.

She absolutely _hates_ being cold.

"I can't stay out here," she lets out in desperation after another round of trying to open the damn door. This is when she remembers she's not alone, and looks back at Jake, hopeful he might help her – after all, even though she wouldn't dare to admit it out loud and help his already big enough ego, he always has the best ideas.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm sure someone will eventually come and open the door," he tells her then, probably reading the helplessness in her eyes.

Amy knows he wants to be supportive, and his whole being radiates calmness as he talks to her, but yet all she can do is pick up on _one_ word he lets out that makes her freak out a little harder.

" _Eventually_?!"

"You can just come in the hot tub in the meantime." Thankfully, he's quick to come up with something else. "It's really nice in here. And _hot_. And I have an extra beer I'd be happy to share."

Although the offer _does_ sound appealing this time and could actually help her feel better about the whole situation indeed, Amy lets out a sigh.

"I'm not wearing my swimsuit."

Despite her words, she walks towards him – there's no need for her to remain by the door now. Plus she could use some company – she hopes Jake will come up with ways to distract her from her newfound anxiety. After all, he's always been pretty good at it – especially after they started dating.

Her answer doesn't seem to throw him off. "And? It wouldn't be the first time I'm seeing you in your underwear. Plus I won't look anyway, and you can't see anything in here!"

To say Amy's startled by his words is an understatement. He's right, of course – he _did_ see her in her underwear often, and even _naked_ – but wouldn't it be weird now, as they parted ways?

Wouldn't it be weird regarding _his girlfriend_?

She knows he would never do something Valerie wouldn't be at ease with, though. And the woman never seemed thrown off by their proximity whenever he invited her to hang out with the squad and Amy was here as well – not that the two exes were really close, when Valerie was here. They couldn't be. He had all eyes on her and her only.

Amy remembers the first time she saw the other woman. She was the last of their group of friends to meet her. She wasn't too keen on getting to know the new person who had stolen Jake's heart. She could hear enough stories about her back at the precinct – stories that always made her heart clench in her chest. She didn't want to know what would happen when facing her, then.

But when one month turned into three, she had to acknowledge this new relationship might be getting serious and the other woman would be around for a while.

Tall, blond, with a huge smile plastered on her face, Valerie entered _Shaw's_ bar walking hand-in-hand with Jake. He did the introductions, nervously watching as the two shook hands. Their encounter was very short and polite – Valerie even complimented Amy on her handshake. And although they didn't talk much that night, Amy had to admit the other woman seemed nice.

And good for Jake.

She remembers how they spent most of the night just the two of them at the bar, sharing some food and drinks. Even though she tried not to pay them too much attention, Amy couldn't help but shoot a few glances in their direction once in a while, especially when Valerie's laughter would rise into the air after Jake probably told her one of his stupid jokes.

Her hand was on his thigh, touching him in an intimate gesture while he was looking at her with a grin he used to offer _her_ and eyes shining with what could be interpreted as pure adoration.

Amy quickly turned her attention away from the pair and reached for her drink, heart aching like hell at the reminder that _she_ was the one he used to make laugh and the realization that he was, indeed, completely over her – now only Valerie mattered. She's seen her a couple of times again since, and it's always been the same.

So of course Valerie has nothing to worry about her joining Jake in a hot tub half-naked. Because of course he won't look at her – it's been a while he hasn't looked at her like he used to. Like she's the moon and stars and _everything_. Like he now probably looks at _Valerie_.

(The lucky woman.)

"I don't know…" she trails off, shaking the depressing thoughts away from her mind, but Jake insists.

"C'mon, Ames, you're _freezing_! The water's really good." He playfully – and without a warning first – splashes her with some water. She gets the immediate reflex to take a step away as she looks down at her coat. Getting it wet surely won't help her to warm up, even though that water _is_ good and hot indeed – she can feel it as a few droplets hit the bare skin of her face.

"Stop! I don't want to get it wet!" she complains, although she can't help but feel a little amused by his shenanigans too.

"' _I Don't Want to Get it Wet' – title of your sex tape!_ "

Amy freezes suddenly. She hasn't heard such a sentence being thrown at her in such a long time; so much so that it feels weird now. It brings back memories of what they used to be.

And if she used to roll her eyes at him when he'd say that to her, right now she doesn't know how to react to the joke.

(The remnants of her 4-drink counterpart can't help but think about how wet, as opposed to what he just implied, Jake used to make her, too. Thankfully for her, said counterpart has died down enough by now to keep those thoughts at bay this time and not feel the urge to share them with him. The consequences would have been terrible otherwise.)

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have–…" His voice brings her back to reality. He's looking at her apologetically, and Amy can't help but dismiss him with a smile to reassure him.

"No, it's okay. It was actually a good one." And she means it. She kind of missed this banter between the two of them.

Her body shivers once more and she remembers the warm feeling of water hitting her face. She decides she'd be stupid to let her concerns prevent her from enjoying a hot tub. If Jake's okay with her joining him – which he truly seems to be –, then there's no need to make a whole fuss about it herself.

Plus, she trusts him. More than she will ever trust anyone. Of course he won't make things weird.

(She trusts herself a little less on that part right now, but she knows she'll feel better after she downs her next drink – aka. the beer Jake promised her.)

"Anyway, you're right," she says, then. "The water _is_ good. I think I'll take you up on that offer to join you in."

She hurries to undress not to let the cold overwhelm her even more than it already does, with being outside with fewer and fewer clothes on, until she finds herself only in her bra and panties. Then she enters the hot tub. Her body immediately relaxes against the feeling of hot water skimming her skin. She lets out a contented sigh, closing her eyes to better appreciate the new (welcomed) warmth that's overcoming her as she lets herself sink into the water until only her head is out. The tips of her loosened hair are floating over her bare shoulders. She feels _good_ , here.

When she opens her eyes again and sets them on him, she can see Jake looking at her with an amused smile.

"What?" she asks with a curious frown, although his smile is contagious as she can feel her own lips curve up slightly.

"Told you you'd enjoy it."

His grin is so smug, she wants to kiss the expression away from his face. But of course she can't.

"Shut up." She settles for fake-annoyance instead and splashes him in the face. It makes him laugh; soon enough she finds herself laughing along with him.

The atmosphere between them remains this light for a while, sharing their beers and stories about their past. It definitely feels like old times, and Amy would let herself drown into this sweet feeling of things being _right_ when she's with Jake if it weren't for his phone ringing and the thought that it might be his girlfriend contacting him taking over her mind.

Still she almost forgets about her again for a hot minute, when they both get lost in the recollection of a scene from when they were still together. Until she suddenly remembers what Jake was about to do before she interrupted him. "Anyways, sorry. You should check your phone, yeah. What if it's Valerie? Maybe she has something important to tell you."

Her heart breaks a little in her chest at the mention of his girlfriend. She needs to look away from him, unable to meet his eyes.

"Yeah, about that… I doubt it's her." The tone of his voice is somehow doubtful, which makes her look up at him again. She doesn't understand.

"Why? I know we said it's a no spouses and partners weekend, but you can still text them."

"I know. But that's the thing. We're not together anymore." Clearly, she wasn't expecting _that_.

So many emotions take over Amy's heart once she hears the news, it's hard for her to keep up with them.

"Oh." She can't seem to remember how to talk. Actually, she doesn't know _what_ to tell him. Part of her is feeling bad for Jake, obviously.

But part of her is also (very shamefully – very _selfishly_ ) thriving. Which she shouldn't be. This doesn't open up new possibilities. Jake being single doesn't mean he might have feelings for her again. And even if he did, they broke up for a _reason_. One Amy often thinks was dumb, the more she muses about it (and she does so more than she'd care to admit), but _still_.

She feels terrible for having such thoughts _now_ , as Jake just told her about his break up with his girlfriend.

"I'm sorry," she adds. And she means it – although judging by his body language right now, he doesn't seem _that_ crushed.

"It's okay. It's been a few weeks now. I'm over it."

For a second, Amy feels a little betrayed he didn't tell her before. But she understands, deep down. It's weird to talk break ups with your ex-girlfriend.

Yet, despite this thought, she can't help but ask him for more details. "What happened?"

The look he gives her in return makes her regret her words immediately. "Sorry. Of course you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she quickly says, then.

"I couldn't say 'I love you' back," he blurts it out and Amy's heart tightens in her chest at the words.

"Oh. And did you?" She clears her throat, the pain of what he might answer hitting a little harder. She doesn't even know why she asks. "Love her back?"

She studies him but his eyes are stuck on his beer.

"Yeah. I wasn't deeply in love with her or something but, y'know…" he trails off. Just like that, the last thread of hope that was still hanging at the very back of her mind is gone. All Amy can feel right now is bad for Jake – for her _best friend_ – to have had to go through such a thing. She just wants him to be _happy_.

And if he were with Valerie… then it's a shame she left him.

(She can't understand why she did. Sure, he has his issues and sure, he wasn't very verbal with how he felt about her when they were still together either. But he had his own ways of showing he cared about her – well, maybe not as much as he did Valerie, since he probably didn't love _her_. Plus he's full of many a quality. The woman's a fool for having let him go like this.)

(Amy knows something about it, as she beats herself up over it every single day.)

"I'm so sorry. It sucks she broke up with you because of this." She wants to show him some support.

She feels the urge to grab his hand and hold it with hers, to touch him to show him she's there for him, but she restrains herself at the last second.

"Nah, she's right." He startles her when he talks again and looks at her this time. There's some resolution in his sad eyes that makes her heart ache for him. She hates seeing him like this. But then he goes on. "I _am_ incapable of voicing my emotions. I mean, I was in love with you too and yet I never told you."

He says the words so naturally, Amy thinks she misunderstood at first. The feeling that overwhelms her is indescribable – it's a mix of utter joy and bittersweetness.

 _Jake loved her._ She didn't know that. Sure, she knew he had feelings for her, but to go as far as talking about _love_ …

It doesn't mean he still does, though. Actually, he most likely doesn't, since he fell in love with another since.

"You… you loved me?!" She's almost afraid of saying the words out loud, afraid he'll tell her this is not what he meant and she _did_ misunderstand him indeed.

But he doesn't tell her that. On the contrary, what he says next makes her heart pound even harder in her chest than it already is.

"Of course I did. And maybe… maybe if I _did_ tell you when it still mattered, we wouldn't have broken up too."

This is all too much information at once. It takes Amy a few more seconds to fully realize what just happened here. But when she does, a rush of confidence comes running through her veins.

(She can thank the now five-drink Amy taking over her mind and talking for her.)

"Well, maybe if _I_ had told you too…" she lets him know what she couldn't say before as she gets even closer to him than they had already become.

There's a new fire, a new determination shining inside her eyes as she stares deep into his eyes, in-between two glances at his lips. She still has the memory of what these lips felt on hers stuck at the back of her head. She misses the taste of them _so much_. As she keeps approaching him, getting dangerously close now, she doesn't back away from her need to touch him. She brings her hand to his and gently covers it with her own.

Jake gets closer too, shoulders brushing together and ready to meet her halfway as he watches her with a knowing look.

Amy shuts her eyes in anticipation to better appreciate the feeling of what's to come when it suddenly happens.

" _OUTCH!"_

She's startled away from Jake from the sound of a man – Charles, she recognizes his voice easily – shouting in pain. Realization of what she was about to do hits her, and a huge pang of relief, mingled with frustration and sadness, overcomes her as she thinks about what a mistake it would have been if they'd kissed indeed.

They're both drunk. They can't do such things with a mind that's not completely clear. No matter how much she's been wanting this, how often she's been thinking about this in her fantasies, she can't handle the thought of him maybe regretting it the next day. She can't handle the thought of them rushing into things, and screwing up again.

"Charles?!" Jake hisses next to her as he calls out their common friend.

"Don't mind us and go back to kissing!" Their colleague says from the inside of the house.

But it's too late. The moment is lost and despite whatever her mind tries to tell her – especially when she meets with Jake's sad eyes –, it's for _the best_.

"I'm sorry. This was a bad idea."

She can't look at him as she gets out of the hot tub and gathers her clothes, then reaches for the door. She has to fight the urge to turn back, the urge to go and finish what they started. She knows if she looks at Jake she won't be able to restrain herself. So she doesn't.

 _This was a bad idea_ , the words are going on a loop in her head while she tries to convince herself.

"Charles, open up!" She knocks on the door, hard. She's in no mood to wait and play along with his dumb games – all that she wants is to take a hot shower and tuck herself inside her warm covers. She needs to forget about the whole night.

Once she's finally inside, Amy acts like heading straight to her room but some music coming from the party still going downstairs catches her attention. It makes her stop in her tracks in the middle of the stairs to listen to it when she recognizes the song.

 _So have you got the guts?  
_ _Been wondering if your heart's still open and  
_ _If so I wanna know what time it shuts  
_ _Simmer down and pucker up  
_ _I'm sorry to interrupt it's just I'm constantly  
_ _On the cusp of trying to kiss you  
_ _I don't know if you feel the same as I do  
_ _But we could be together, if you wanted to_

She lets out a frustrated groan at the irony of it. The lyrics of this song definitely hit too close to home. They remind her too much of what might have happened only mere minutes ago.

With a sigh, she shakes the thoughts away from her head and hurries to her room. There, she locks herself inside and gets rid of the last few pieces of clothing on her as she enters the shower. The water running down her body as she washes herself kind of helps her sober up a little, and her mind his clearer when she eventually goes to bed.

But she doesn't go to sleep just yet. She can't, not after what happened. Not after what she learned.

Jake is single again, she goes through every new bit of information one by one. He has been for some time now, enough to actually think about dating again.

He loved her, back when they were still in a relationship. Which they never told each other before – if Amy thought about letting out the words several times, she never did. She knew it might make him feel uncomfortable to hear them – she knew he might not be able to say them back. She was willing to wait.

It seems that they waited for too long, though. But now they both have feelings for each other again.

Or so it looks like. Which lead to the last part. They _almost kissed_.

Shivers run down Amy's spine and her heart starts racing in her chest as she remembers the moment – how her whole body awoke in anticipation to get to feel his lips against hers once more, after all this time.

Does she want to kiss him again? Yes.

Does she want to go back together with him? Damn, yes.

Is it a good idea? She's not so sure. She has had months to imagine such a scenario happening, but now that the possibility is becoming real and tangible, it's a whole other situation. One she has to deeply think about before coming to any conclusion. So, Amy does what she does best: she makes a list. _The pros and cons of starting over._ She decides to start with the cons.

 _1\. We were drunk,_ she writes first.  
 _2\. We broke up for a reason.  
_ _3\. Going back together with your ex is never a good idea.  
_ _4\. Especially since he broke up with his last girlfriend only weeks ago._

And that's it. No matter how long she stares at the page in front of her, how hard she tries to think about it, she can't come up with more reasons than these four right now. So she switches sides, and goes to the pros.

She begins with the obvious, with those same words she let out right before they got together the first time, when she knew all too well the impact they would have.

 _1\. He makes me laugh._

Then she keeps writing, adding reason after reason. Her mind is rushing and it's like she can't stop. She thinks about Jake, about how good he is, how _right_ it felt when she was with him. She thinks about the things she misses about him; about what they used to be. She thinks about what changed – what _improved_ – in her life when they were seeing each other romantically.

They weren't together for _that_ long, didn't reach the 6 months mark but still. He managed to shatter her world like nobody else ever did.

(He already had, to be honest, even before they started dating. And he still does, even just as _friends_.)

That's how she comes up with her last, maybe most important reason why she should give their story another chance: _I love him_.

She stares at her list for a while with her heart pounding in her chest. A small smile forms on her lips. Yep, she definitely wants to get back together with him.

The only question now is to know if Jake wants as well. Sure, he didn't back off when she leaned in earlier to kiss him. But, as she wrote on the 'cons' side of her list, they were _both_ drunk. Maybe he's going to see it as a moment of weakness, after having been dumped by the woman he loved. Maybe he just wanted to kiss her and nothing more. Maybe _he_ doesn't want to try again.

The simple thought of it makes her heart ache.

Amy knows they need to talk, has had ever since she chose to left him earlier, but she's also well aware of how late it is right now and how this is a conversation that needs to wait until the next day. She neatly folds the list and puts it away on the nightstand next to her before she switches the lights off and lies her head down on the pillow, ready to fall asleep.

(In her dream, Jake kisses her – and nobody's there to interrupt them this time.)

It's barely 7 a.m. when she wakes up, a time she more than anyone knows to be too early for Jake to be awake already – especially on a weekend. Actually, no one in the house seems to be yet, as she finds herself surrounded with complete silence when she goes down to the kitchen. Her head hurts a little, but she thankfully doesn't feel too hungover.

She makes a stop in front of her ex-boyfriend's door on her way. She has to fight the urge to knock right now and forces herself to go on with her course instead. She goes through her list of pros and cons one more time as she makes herself some breakfast, planning a whole speech in her mind about what to tell Jake. More than ever she's certain of her feelings and what she wants.

By the time she's finished eating and getting changed, it's 8 a.m. and there's still not a sound inside the house. She can't retain herself any longer, though – she needs to talk to Jake _now_. She can't wait for him to wake up on his own. She can't lose her chance of talking to him in private either, if he were to wake up after the rest of their squad does. She can't wait until they're back in Brooklyn to have this conversation. It's too important – and not only for her. If they don't mention what almost happened the previous night, things might become awkward between them.

Which she obviously doesn't want. Jake's too important for her to risk losing him.

(Yet she might, if she tells him she wants to get back together with him but he _doesn't_. She quickly chases the thought away, though. She can't back off now. She can't miss her chance – they missed enough chances to last a lifetime in the past, back when they hadn't been dating yet. And like they both acknowledged the previous night when they finally let each other know of their feelings for the other while they were still in a relationship, it's better to tell the other how you feel or you might put an end to a beautiful story for dumb reasons.)

Before knocking on his door, Amy goes back down to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and an Aspirin. Not only does she think he might need it, it will also probably help her start a conversation and ease her anxious body with the offer. She freezes for a second in front of his door before she pushes herself to eventually knock.

She hears him groan from the other side of the room and it makes her smile. Jake definitely _isn't_ a morning person.

(There was a time when she knew how to wake him up so that he wouldn't mind seeing the early hours of the day in the slightest.)

A few seconds pass before he opens the door. When he does, Amy's heart misses a beat at the sight of him as flashes of the previous night come back to her. She has to restrain herself from simply kissing him right here and there and forget about everything else.

 _God, she's in so deep._

"Amy?!" Jake seems startled to see her here.

His hair is messy at the top of his head, with some curls going everywhere. Amy wishes she could smooth them down like she used to love doing so, before.

(Like she knows Jake used to love too. And if everything goes well, she might be able to do it again soon.)

"Hey." She quickly dismisses the thought – she needs to _focus_ right now. She shows him what she's holding. "Brought you some Aspirin and a glass of water. I thought you might need it." She softly smiles at him as she hands them to him.

"Thank you." Jake sounds distant. He's barely looking at her. It makes her hesitate for a beat until she forces herself to find some composure.

"Can I… come in?" she asks. Her heart is literally pounding in her chest. "I feel like we should talk." Her own voice is more solemn than she wanted it to be.

Jake doesn't say anything in return. He simply agrees to her request with a nod and by throwing himself to the side. She enters the room and they silently walk towards the bed, where they sit together.

Amy takes a huge breath before she talks again. _This is it,_ this thinks as she feels her hands shake a little in both fear and excitement. The moment of truth has arrived.

"I'm sorry about last night. I crossed a line," she starts her speech with an apology.

Even though she _does_ want to get back together with him, Amy still believes it shouldn't start with them drunkenly kissing. She shouldn't have come for him like that and 'take advantage' of his confession to do what she'd been dreaming of doing (though always restrained herself) for a long while.

"It's okay," Jake cuts her with a sigh. It startles her – she wasn't expecting that. What he says next, doing the whole speech himself, startles her even more. "We were both drunk and got lost in the moment. It's a good thing Charles came in before we could actually _do_ something we would have regretted immediately after. Because we both know this can't work romantically, right?"

It's all it takes to leave Amy heartbroken and at a loss of words. She's taken off-guard for not having been able to say her own speech. She thinks she catches some hurt in his eyes, as if he's saying these words in a resigned way more than truly meaning them, but she might be wrong. She _is_ wrong, and simply reading into his face what she wishes were true so that she can still have hope.

Her eyes land towards the hand that's lying next to hers for a beat, so close yet so far away. She remembers the feeling of her skin touching his the previous night. The pain that she won't get to intertwine these fingers with hers rushes through her veins.

This is definitely not the outcome she had hoped for. But if this is what Jake wants… well, she can't go against that.

She tries to play it cool, then. "Right… no 'romantic-stylez' to ever happen between us anymore, uh?" she lets it out amusedly but inside, her heart is crushing hard.

There's no need to stay here any longer, now that they made it clear there's no getting back together. She has no speech to go by anymore, nothing to help her overcome this situation. "Well, if we both agree… I guess I'll see you later? Sorry I woke you up," she simply says as she feels the sudden urge to leave. She doesn't move just yet, though – stares Jake in the eye one last time.

Then she stands up and rushes towards the door. She can sense his presence in her back as he's following her. It makes her stop at the door. She's really not feeling at ease with the outcome of this conversation. She can't let things end like this. She needs to say _something_ , let him know of these feelings she kept inside for too long before – even if she knows it won't change anything.

At least it'll be out of her chest.

But when Amy turns around and her eyes meet with Jake's, the words die down at the back of her throat. "So… we're good, right?" she's only able to ask.

She couldn't bear the thought of this 'incident' pushing them away from each other all over again. It took them some time after they broke up to go back to normal – and she doesn't want to relive that period of awkwardness and having to overthink every time they want to tell the other something.

"We're good." He nods.

"Noice." She mimics his old antics. She's clearly stalling, now, as she tries to smile at him – it barely reaches her eyes.

"Smort." He returns an amused smile.

There's nothing more to say. So Amy turns around, ready to leave for good this time and hope she'll be able to quickly get over this rejection. Maybe it's for the best. Maybe this is the closure she needed to _finally_ get over him, she tries to persuade herself. She's in the middle of thinking about this when she feels something grasping her wrist. She's being pulled away from the door.

The gesture is so sudden, she doesn't have the time to realize what's going on until Jake's lips are on hers and eagerly claiming her mouth.

At first, she thinks that she's dreaming.

But then she finds herself kissing him back, her whole body melting against his own and her heart exploding in her chest, and it's like the world is turning round again. All of her thoughts of _closure_ and _getting over him_ wash away as she doesn't waste any time to bring her hands to his hair like she so wished to do so previously. Jake keeps her close while she deepens the kiss. His touch on her waist sends shivers running down her spine, like this is all happening for the first time. Yet, the way their bodies align so well together reminds her how this is _not_.

How this is an intimacy they used to know and _love_.

Then, they have to (reluctantly) part.

Slowly going down from her high, Amy can't help but wonder _why_ Jake did this, after what he just told her. She's hopeful, yet doesn't want to get her hopes _too_ up again.

"Sorry, it's just that–… No, we're not good," he tells her and she frowns. "We're far from good. I wasn't _that_ drunk yesterday, and I do think we could work things out. I'm _ready_ to try and make things work – y'know, romantic-stylez. Because I love you."

And just like that, it's like a weight is being lifted off her chest. She can feel some tears of emotion prickling inside her eyes at his (last) words.

 _Jake loves her._ And she loves him too. Which she doesn't waste any time to tell him – to hell with her grand speeches. She'll be able to come up with plenty of those later if she wants.

Because _he's ready to try and make things work_ between the two of them. He wants to give their story another chance, too.

Amy brings her lips to his in another kiss, already missing them, after all this time being apart. A playful smile is lighting up Jake's entire face when she draws away. He's still holding her by the waist, as if he's not willing to let her go now that they found each other again – and really, she doesn't mind in the slightest. She doesn't want to leave either.

Her own hands are on his chest. She can feel the loud thump of his beating heart and how it's very slowly getting down to normal.

"Y'know, I was gonna cry myself back to sleep about how I let you go again, but I guess I could use some company now, if you wanna stay…" He shoots her a knowing, amused look. It makes Amy chuckle lightly.

"Well, I guess I could use a nap too," she answers just as playfully. Jake grins in return but doesn't say a word.

Instead, he leads her to the bed with his hand securely wrapped around hers and it's like no time has passed nor been lost between them.


	152. Hanging by a Moment Here with You

He makes her laugh.

She's not so sure how he does it, but even under the worst circumstances, Jake still manages to make Amy laugh.

She should be freaking out right now – they're _locked up_ in a _freezing_ room, two of her least favorite things in the world – and yet here she is, unable to retain the small chuckle that escapes her mouth at her friend's current shenanigans. Instead of the upcoming panic attack that threatened to unload after Augustine broke their cover and pushed them inside the kitchen freezer of the restaurant they'd all been eating at, it's a warm feeling that's now taking over her whole body.

She laughs, the sound of which resonates through the thick walls while a small puff of cold air forms in front of her.

Jake's arms are wrapped around her shoulders, stroking them and holding her close to his chest. The intimacy is new as they're literally sitting on the floor and _cuddling_ but none of them seems to complain about it – if anything, Amy is grateful for it as it helps her stay relaxed and keeps her from getting hypothermia. Her entire being is heating up at the simple touch of her partner on her, heart pounding in her chest and cheeks burning in a blush.

"I like your laugh," Jake slips out as he watches her with a soft beam covering his face.

It takes her off guard, said laughter quickly dying down and leaving space for some deafening silence to take over the small room.

"Sorry, that was awkward." He looks away as he removes one of his hands from her arm to scratch behind his neck. "But earlier you said I make you laugh, and I just–… I don't know. I like the sound of it." He shrugs, finally daring to bring his eyes back on her. What she can see in them then is quite overwhelming – he's staring at her with such intensity and _awe_ , like nobody else has ever done before, it makes it hard for _her_ to look at him now.

Of course she remembers telling him that. She remembers damn well how she took the very deliberate decision to let Jake know of the truth, when he had made it clear he had feelings for her again.

 _There's no-one else's opinion who I care about more than hers,_ he admitted in return – and her heart melted at the words, full of sincerity too this time.

"Well, thank you. I meant what I said, y'know. You do make me laugh a lot." She shoots him a small, reassuring smile as she finally talks. Somehow, in this dark and quiet place and stuck in such an intimate embrace, she finds it easier to talk about her feelings.

The smile soon reciprocates on Jake's features, but he doesn't say anything in return.

Amy studies his face for a moment, so close to hers she can actually feel his hot breath against her skin. Her eyes dart down towards his mouth before she can stop herself; her mind can't help but take her back to when it crushed against hers in an unexpected kiss earlier. Right before their cover blew up spectacularly and they found themselves in this (terrible) situation.

She would lie if she'd say she hadn't thought about what his lips would feel like, before this day. Actually, she'd thought about it more than she would care to admit.

And even though it took her a beat to realize what was happening and properly answer to his assault, once she did and she let the feeling of Jake's hands on her body and his lips moving against her own overcome her, she momentarily forgot about where she was. _Who_ they were supposed to be.

As in, Johnny and Dora, this fake engaged couple _she_ had come up with in the first place.

Not Jake and Amy, these two colleagues and friends who'd been pining for the other in turns for more than a year now.

Just like their personas were, this kiss was nothing but a cover for the job they had to do but damn, did it felt and tasted _real_.

Amy knows she's the only thing left standing between playing pretend and a true relationship with Jake. They're both single, and she knows he wants it, because he told her so.

 _I was kind of thinking about asking you out._

Deep down, she knows she wants it too. Yet she rejected him again over stupid fears and possible awkwardness and rules she made for herself – _I don't date cops_. Jake is so much more than just a cop, though. He's her partner, her friend, the first person she thinks about when she needs to vent about something with someone. He's funny and caring and kind and smart and overall amazing.

And _he makes her laugh_.

(And he likes said laugh. Her heart warms up just at the thought of it.)

Of course he has his flaws – just like everyone does –, and sometimes he drives her absolutely crazy, but at the end of the day she knows she can count on him. She's been doing so for a few years now, as her colleague and partner on the field. More importantly, she's been doing so for the past half-hour, leaning on his support to make her forget about where they're currently stuck in.

Trusting him to turn this nightmare they're (or _she_ mostly is) living into this sweet moment between the two of them.

She would have lost it already if it weren't for him and his soothing presence by her side.

His hold on her is firm yet tender with his arms clasped around her body and his scent his overwhelming her and Amy can't help but think she's making a huge mistake right now.

She shouldn't let him go away again.

She shifts inside his embrace to snuggle even closer to him and Jake lets her do. She closes her eyes for an instant, taking a deep breath as she comfortably lets her head fall onto his warm chest. She can feel the loud thump of his heart against her ear. A small smile spreads across her face.

Yes, despite being in such a dark and cold room right now, she feels right, _here_ – in Jake's welcoming arms.

"You okay?" His voice is soft against her skin. He sounds a little worried as he hugs her tighter. "Are you cold?"

Of course she still is. She's the type of person to carry a blanket around with her in _July_ – she can only be freezing in the kitchen freezer of some fancy restaurant, then. Especially when she's wearing nothing but just a thin long-sleeves blouse. But somehow, being locked up in here with _him_ , with _his_ arms wrapped around her, it's not as unbearable as it should be.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she nods dreamily; reassuringly. It doesn't seem to convince Jake, though, who draws away from her a little to have a better look at her. Amy can feel a rush of cold, mingled with a slight pang of frustration, run down her spine following this newfound distance between the two of them.

"You sure about that? Your lips are turning blue." He stares at them with this statement, his own lips only a few inches away from her reach and slightly parted as he's highly focused on her well-being.

Behind the evident worry she can read in his (beautiful) brown eyes, Amy can also make out some hunger to taste them again – although she knows he would never dare to cross that line the way he did so earlier, now that they're alone and _themselves_ and don't have the excuse of a cover to try and keep anymore.

Because he knows – he _thinks_ – she doesn't want him.

But, with the way her heartbeat is racing in her chest, there's no denying she _does_.

Plus it's true she's starting not to feel her lips anymore, and she knows for a fact now that his face is _so warm_.

(Maybe less so now that they've been stuck in a freezer for so long – still, Amy can bet they're still warmer than her own.)

For a second their eyes meet and as she gets lost in Jake's gaze for a beat too long, Amy feels the urge to stop restraining herself the way she did for so long – to stop hiding behind dumb rules and finally take her leap of faith. She wants this. He does too. So why not give it a chance?!

Kissing him earlier didn't feel weird or wrong. It was rather the opposite.

It felt like _finally_ and like her heart was exploding in her chest with all emotions she'd try to lock far away all coming back to her mind at once.

(And it made her feel warm. _Oh so_ warm. A feeling she could use, right now.)

She sees Jake frown as she silently leans towards him, well-determined to put an end to the small distance that remains between their two faces, until realization seems to flash into his eyes and a new glow comes shining inside his irises. They're so close she can feel his heartbeat quicken in anticipation and, in her chest, her own does the exact same.

His breath is sharp and hot, slightly tickling her as they get closer and closer and _always_ closer – _almost_ as closed as they found themselves back in the hallway earlier.

(It's not a rushed impulse they're taking here, though – and they're not pretending to be other people either.

It is Amy, and it is Jake, slowly and finally deciding to act on their feelings.)

"We found them!" A voice suddenly startles Amy and forces her away from Jake before their lips can do so much as brushing. He backs off too, jumping in surprise. She blinks a few times when some new light enters the otherwise rather dark room. It's only when her eyes eventually adjust to this new brightness that she recognizes who interrupted them: some officer working with them at the Nine-Nine.

Their squad has found them.

Despite the giant pang of relief that takes over her at the realization that they'll finally be able to get out of here, she can't retain the frustration of not being able to finish what they started, too.

"Santiago? Peralta? Are you alright? We've been looking for you everywhere." The officer approaches them and Amy knows her moment with Jake has been lost.

"You're still cold?"

Jake's teasing voice makes Amy look up from the magazine she's been reading. She's wrapped in several blankets as she's patiently waiting for her results to come back.

Despite telling everyone they were _fine_ and hadn't been locked in the freezer for _that_ long, their Captain still insisted they should go to the hospital to get checked, just in case. And even though the feeling of warmth that's overcoming her right now is good indeed, Amy would rather be at home in her own bed after the night she had.

A smile comes curving up the corners of her mouth when her eyes meet with her partner's. A new wave of warmth takes over her whole body as she's finding herself alone with Jake for the first time since they almost kissed earlier. He might be grinning at the sight she offers, but she can still make out some concern as well in the way she looks at her – studying her carefully.

The question is a joke, but also genuine.

He approaches her and she shifts on her bed as an invitation for him to come and take a seat by her side. He doesn't wait for more to do so.

"I'm feeling better." She shoots him a small reassuring smile, one he's quick to reciprocate on his own features.

A short moment of silence falls upon them before Amy talks again. "Thank you, by the way. For preventing me from losing it, back there."

"Of course. I'm always happy to help." His smile turns fonder with the words. The atmosphere between them is full of tension when none of them talks for another beat.

Amy tries to think of ways to bring up what happened between them – let him know it wasn't some 'on the spur' moment and she would _love_ it if they were to pick things up right where they stopped.

"So… that was a crazy night, uh?" In the end, it's all she manages to say. But it seems to be enough. Indeed, she catches how Jake's gaze on her suddenly grow darker before it switches to her lips for a second. Then, without a warning, his mouth finds its way towards hers. This time, there's no-one to interrupt them.

This time, it's definitely not playing pretend either.

Amy lets herself melt into his embrace. His hands are at her waist, keeping her close while hers find their way up to his neck. His touch his electrifying. It's nothing like their first kiss – they don't have to hold back their feelings, this time. They can be true to themselves and damn, does it feel good for Amy to finally be able to acknowledge, through her gestures, that _yes, she likes Jake Peralta a lot_.

Romantic-stylez.

(And he _really_ likes her too, he will tell her later when they talk about the kiss and decide to give this "thing" they have a chance.)


End file.
